Tidus vs Predator
by Ryden and Xephfyre
Summary: He was born for the Hunt, bred for the Kill. He is the ultimate war machine, unstoppable on the battle field. And now, he has chosen his prey on the Planet of Spira. The Hunt awaits.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: Do resurrected Authors need to put disclaimers?

A/N: Welcome back, fans, to the infamous world of Tidus vs. Predator! Master and Chief are back, and we're back with reinforcements! Guess what?The Arbiter decided he was bored after the production of Halo 2 and wanted to join us!Things may differ slightly from the original, but nevertheless, it's still TVP! So sit back and enjoy the show. We'll update very fast, so make sure to check regularly. And review EVERY CHAPTER.

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Prologue

Before it lay the small blue globe that had been a recently selected spot of the Hunt. It's wispy white clouds, the etched lines of brown that surrounded the continents strewn upon its surface, the blue-green hue of the immense waters that blanketed the planet's skin, they practically _screamed_ of life. And where there was life, there was the Hunt.

Granted, not just ANY creature was worthy of the Hunt. Sure, for a quick Trophy one could simply land in a random location and shoot a sleeping... what were they called here? Fiends? Whatever they were called the so-called "hunters" of this world(Crusaders, actually) felt that surrounding one of these creatures and mercilessly slaughtering it was some grand act of courage, as though the fiend actually had a chance to leap upward and defend itself, to yell back at them defiantly that it was prepared for their challenge. What a joke some of these men are. They do not know the true taste of a Hunt, the way its aura will sting in your mouth, driving you on, knowing that you have the potential to be wiped out by your Prey as well.

These men. What fools they are. To call themselves "hunters" is an insult to a title that should be cherished, as though it were your own name.

But somewhere within their little heads DOES in fact lie a precious ability, a commodity one would not expect at first glance from such an awkward species through their deviousness, their mild cunning, their ruthlessness, therein lies the ability to make fantastic Prey. It is not found within many of them, sadly; the children are feeble, as are their old, and should be allowed to continue on their way. The women, while having some potential, lack for the most part the antagonistic spirit necessary for an enjoyable Hunt. There have been a few, and when hunted they make astoundingly entertaining Prey, but they are a disappointing few. That leaves the males, ranging from early adulthood to middle age. And even from within THAT wide a group comes the restrictions... The requirements of strength, speed, cunning, ingenuity, all these are prerequisite factors, and not many can meet them. But there ARE those few... While not bearing the same animalistic ferocity as the xenomorphs it and its kind have planted on various sport-worlds, or the brutish physical resistance of the armored juggernauts that roam its own world's dusty seas, the games the humans play with the mind, theirs and one's own, make their shining white skulls a coveted ornament.

The usual procedure of the Hunt is to find a certain group of individuals that seem strong, then chop them down until one is left standing. That one may not always be present at the preliminary slaughter, but with enough agitation it will emerge from its hole and present itself, and THAT is when the true Hunt begins, for the last one standing is usually the leader of the pack, the strongest, the most worthy. The groups range anywhere from certain law enforcement agencies to the equivalent of what must be a military. And there are still other groups: fighters, daredevils, mercenaries, the so-called 'Guardians', so many to choose from! IF you can find the rightqualities...

And it has found a certain group to its liking. A group that may in fact prove worthy of a Hunt. A group located on an islandcalled Besaid. A group about to leave on some sort of journey.

You can find interesting Prey in some of the most curious of places...

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Master and Chief and The Arbiter Productions Inc. proudly presents...

TVP

Tidus vs. Predator

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	2. Stalking Game

Disclaimer: … … …

A/N: And here is another chapter! A reminder, REVIEW ALL CHAPTERS, even with the ultra-fast updating.

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Chapter 1: Stalking Game 

Upon the windy branches of the tall trees of Besaid loomed a new presence, one whose kind hadn't visited the planet, let alone the island itself, in many decades.

Cold gusts of wind blew back and forth across its bare skin, but it casually shrugged it off; the weather was an unpleasant change from the strong heat it was so accustomed to, but sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of Prey. The astounding height was no concern, however; on the contrary, stalking Prey from the upper echelons of the jungle gave it more freedom of movement, a higher point of attack, and an easier chance to move about totally undetected.

Intently it watched the throngs of creatures called fiends moving to and fro amongst the noise of the jungle, trying to find a bearing on its first Prey. This would be the preliminary procedure, grabbing the attention of the main Target by eliminating its familiars.

Unfortunately the incredible numbers of fiends below were warping the heat signatures, blending them into a single mass of red, orange and yellow. No problem, a true Hunter always had other means of detection at hand.

Sound, for instance. Its hearing was extremely acute, the sensors in its helmet amplifying desired signals and processing them into a visual code which it could use to plot trajectory and vector angles.

And there it was, as clear as glass, two vocal patterns it had preprogrammed its helmet to recognize and seek out. One human male, the other a human female, originating 0.41 kilometers northeast from its current position.

The Hunter, Dachande, made sure all his gear was in place and immediately leapt from its vantage point on the branch to another thicker branch fifty-feet away. His bare feet easily gripped the surface as it continued to run, from treetop to treetop until the audio signal could be properly locked on and a visual track could be attained.

Six stories below, a wooden platform of some sort was connected to a ship of some kind and people were filing into it. Including the Targets. With a tap on his wrist-mounted control pad Dachande was able to magnify their visual images: a bunch of human males and females, all a half-meter below its own height, all in apparently excellent physical condition. They followed the crowds into the ship and behind them the ramp was pulled back.

The Hunt begins.

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"The best, huh?" Tidus boasted to the air as if his Dad could hear him, having just done the Jecht Shot. He had performed it once more, for Yuna and the Aurochs then they had filed off to bed. Tidus had remained lying on the deck. When he felt that he had gloated enough to the non-existent spirit of his father, he got up and headed for the cabin.

* * *

Dachande crouched behind the crate and drew a tracking device from his utility belt. His Main Target was drawing close, and his tracking device, should he get a chance to plant it this early, would make the Hunt much more interesting. The Target came even closer, and Dachande tensed. He started to hiss in anticipation, but quickly silenced himself. Any second now…

* * *

Tidus stopped as he heard an odd croaking noise. Slowly drawing the Brotherhood from its sheath, he crept forward. Footsteps were coming around the corner. Raising the Brotherhood, he brought it down as the source of the footsteps rounded the corner. The blade slashed through the air… 

… and impacted with the spherical surface of a blitzball. Tidus peered around and noticed a terrified Wakka. "Holy shit! Wakka, you scared the bejesus outta me! I thought there was a fiend on board!" Wakka, who was evidently more creeped out than Tidus, simply nodded and gestured down to the stairs leading to the cabin, apparently a bit too shocked and surprised for words.

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Dachande cursed under his breath as his Target stopped just short of his location. Another of his targets emerged from below the ship, and his Target attacked it, obviously thinking it was something else, perhaps a fiend. They conversed in their language for a few moments, and Dachande made sure his recording device got it. It could come in useful in the future. They left back into the ship, and Dachande vented his frustration at the wooden deck of the ship. The wood splintered, but slightly. Had he used his full strength, the noise would be enough to wake the dead. 

No matter. Another time. His Prey would not escape him.

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	3. Massacre

Disclaimer: Don't wanna do this, don't wanna do this…

A/N: review, review, review, review, review

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Chapter 2: Massacre

"Ok, just sign your name here, and you'll be registered for the blitzball tournament." The receptionist told Tidus. "Gimme a sec here." He said and shouted to Wakka "OI WAKKA! YOU SIGNATURE IS REQUIRED!" Wakka detached himself from his pep speech to the Aurochs, came bustling over and scrawled his signature messily on the contract.

"Ok, Tidus. Three hours to the match. Practice, or slack?" Wakka asked. Tidus, being the star player of the Zanarkand Abes, felt that there wasn't any need to practice. "Slack." He said, and the duo strode off to the streets of Luca.

* * *

They were walking down the street casually when they heard something like a thunderclap. Wakka immediately covered his ears to prevent himself from going deaf, and Tidus flinched. 

"What the hell was that?" Wakka said. "Sounded like a fuckin' army of Al Bhed just went nuts with their guns."

Suddenly, cops rushed past them. "Yep. Like a fuckin' army. Let's roll." Tidus ran after them, and Wakka followed. They came to a twenty-story building with a huge hole in the side at tenth-story height. "Hey, officer!" Wakka shouted to the nearest cop. "What the hell happened here?" he asked. "Shots fired." The cop replied. "What the hell?" Tidus said. "Shots fired? Not a explosion?"

"Yessir. A _lot _of shots." The cop said. "It wasn't a bomb that did that?" Wakka asked, pointing at the huge hole. The patrolman glanced up. "We don't know, Sir guardians, but we heard shots. Lots of 'em. Like a gang war or something." He shrugged. "So far, we've got them tagged for reckless endangerment, illegal discharge of firearms within city limits, disorderly conduct… Hell, we can throw in exceeding noise restrictions…"

Just then, a sharp crack sounded as boards burst out from one of the tenth-floor windows, followed by a gurgling scream as the man whose body had burst them out sailed across the street and plummeted to a hard landing atop a bench, shattering the wooden frame spectacularly.

Shocked into silence, everyone just stared for a moment as broken boards clattered to the neighboring sidewalk.

Then the silence broke as men hurried to check the condition of the fallen figure, and someone called in for an ambulance-no, several ambulances.

The patrolman that had been talking to Tidus and Wakka swallowed and said, "Guess we can add destruction of city property to the list.

Somewhere above, gunfire rattled, and a shrill scream was suddenly cut off short. Calmly, Tidus drew the Brotherhood from its sheath. "I'm going in," he said. "Wait, sir, you can't…" Tidus shifted the Brotherhood to the cop's general direction. "Did I ever tell you I'm Lady Yuna's guardian?" The copped stopped short and stepped back. Tidus returned the Brotherhood to its usual position, slung over his shoulder, and strode towards the building. Wakka followed, grumbling, pulling out his blitzball.

The door was open, the ground-floor hallway empty and dim; Wakka followed Tidus to the stairwell, blitzball gripped firmly in a throwing position. Up above he could hear hoarse shouts and loud thumps. "Sounds like a ninja movie up there. Who the hell do you think's up there, Ti?"

"Probably Al Bhed and Yevonites. From what I guess, they got themselves into a brawl." Tidus took a look up into the darkness, then headed up the stairs, weapon ready.

The middle floors were dark and silent; Wakka took a quick glance down each hallway, blitzball aimed at nothing, and saw nothing but garbage and emptiness. Tidus didn't even bother to look; he was headed where the action was.

On the tenth floor dim light spilled into the hallway from an open door; the thumping had stopped, but someone was screaming steadily, a scream of pain and terror like nothing Wakka had ever heard before. Gun smoke was drifting in the air, and the whole place reeked of it.

"Yevon, you _hear _that?" Wakka asked, crouching on the top step. "Yeah," Tidus said, standing in the hallway. "They're really starting to creep me out."

The scream ended in a choking gurgle.

"Cover me, I'm going in." Tidus said as he approached the door, his back to the wall. Wakka didn't bother to reply; Tidus didn't give him time to reply, anyway. Almost as soon as he had finished speaking, Tidus was around the door frame, charging into the room with the Brotherhood ready.

Wakka moved cautiously up the corridor, back to the wall, trying to ignore the fact that there were more than a dozen goddamn bullet holes in that wall, and his back was sliding right across them, begging for another few high-velocity rounds from an Al Bhed rifle to come punching out.

He heard Tidus' footsteps go in, then stop somewhere in the middle of the room.

And he didn't hear anything but a thick dripping sound, like steak sauce going on.

"Oh, Yevon," Wakka muttered to himself, very quietly. Something wasn't _right_. The all-out firefight, the blown-out wall, now that heavy silence, and something intangible and indefinably _wrong_, in a way the city had never been wrong before.

Just as Tidus had said.

"Ti?" Wakka called quietly.

Tidus didn't answer; Wakka heard his shoe scuff on grit, but Tidus didn't say anything at all.

Wakka stepped forward, blitzball ready, and swung around the doorframe.

Then he stopped, frozen, staring into the room beyond.

* * *

It's odd, what goes through a person's head at certain times-or at least Tidus thought so, as he took in what lay in front of him. Because what he immediately thought of, upon seeing it, was his mother. 

He remembered her holding him, crooning soothingly to him, when he was maybe four, five years old. He remembered the soft touch of her hands, and how long and thin her fingers seemed, and how one curl of her hair brushed against his forehead as he held him close.

Then the rest of the memory came back, and he decided that maybe it wasn't so very odd after all.

Because the reason she'd been holding him and comforting him is that he had woken up screaming in the darkness, shaking uncontrollably with nameless terror, after some nightmare he couldn't remember, something about monsters in the night, about suffocating in his own blood, about the _things_ that wanted to hurt him.

And she had rocked him gently in her arms and had told him softly, "Those bad things are just dreams, they're not real. They can't hurt you. There are no monsters in the night, not really."

As he looked at the big room on the tenth floor, the room where one wall had been partly shot away, the room littered with broken glass and spattered blood and plaster dust, the room where his unflappable fellow guardian Wakka was standing dumbstruck, Tidus knew that his mother had lied.

Because the monsters had to be real. Nothing else could have done this.

The two guardians stared silently for a long moment.

Finally, Wakka spoke.

"Gang war, my ass," he said.


	4. Tagged

Disclaimer: Insert stylish disclaimer here

A/N: Sorry, Darkmoon, but we submitted the wrong chapter by mistake. This is the correct chapter.

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Chapter 3: Tagged

The bodies were swaying gently in the breeze from the blown-out wall, and the blood that dripped from their dangling red fingertips drew loops and whorls on the floor.

There were eight of them in all, hanging by their feet; something had smashed away most of the ceiling and tied the corpses to a joist. They were all bright red, from heel to head.

It was obvious what had been done to them, what the monsters in the night had done, but Tidus had to say it anyway.

"They've been skinned," he said.

Wakka nodded.

"Some of them are Al Bhed, and some of them are Yevonites. An equal-opportunity massacre, that's what we have here."

Tidus stared at Wakka-which was better than staring at the bodies, anyway. "Yevon, Wakka, how can you tell? They don't have their goddamn _faces_ anymore!"

"They don't have the skin, but the eyes are still there. That bunch over there are Al Bhed, green eyes, that bunch over there are Yevonites, no green eyes, and…" Wakka stopped and bent over, puking his brains out.

Tidus looked before he could stop himself, before he could remind that maybe he didn't want to, and he felt a sudden surge of nausea. Sweat dripped down his face, cold sweat despite the heat, and he couldn't make himself move to wipe it away. He couldn't take his eyes off the bloody bodies. He couldn't move his feet either; if he stepped forward, he'd be walking in blood, and he couldn't step back, it felt as if the monsters in the night would get him if he stepped back.

And there were cartridge casings everywhere, and the guns were lying in the blood. The entire room stank of gun smoke and meat. These men hadn't died without a fight.

"Yevon," he said again. "Wakka, who could have done this? It would have taken a regiment of crusaders, but even they wouldn't be viscous enough to skin people!" Tidus turned and saw Wakka tumbling back down the stairs, still trying to empty the contents of his stomach.

Being the only one left in the room, Tidus took it upon himself to investigate. Taking in a deep breath, he stepped forward, trying to ignore the fact that he was walking in a crimson pool of human fluids. The holes in the ceiling and walls were the first thing he wanted to look at.

Most of them were bullet holes, of course-Al Bhed automatic weapons had stitched back and forth across the room in every direction during the fight.

There were three holes, though, that weren't right. He'd noticed them immediately when he'd came up here, but was too distracted by the bodies that he didn't mention them to Wakka; they just weren't _right_.

For one thing, they were far too big for bullet holes-each was as big as a man's head. Tidus had a pretty good idea of Auron's height, and he figured it would be eye level for Auron, and just above head height for anyone else, including the people who had died here. Nobody was going to be throwing punches from that high up.

If someone had picked up a man, raised him above his head like a wrestler doing an airplane spin, and then rammed him against the wall…

No. These holes punched _through_ the wall. Do that with a man's head, and when you pull him back out, he'll be a bloody mess, and probably dead. The bodies, mangled as they were, hadn't showed that particular sort of injury. Their skulls weren't caved in.

Some kind of weapon? Something like a mace? No. The holes were wrong for that. For one thing…

Tidus stepped back out into the corridor and around into the next room, where the hole came out, and looked at it.

Then he turned and looked at the far wall. There was another hole there; he'd thought, when he'd looked through from the other side, that he'd seen one.

And yes, the two lined up-but the second, smaller hole was below the first one. That meant that whatever had made them had been angled downward.

Tidus strode back to the bigger room, the room where the massacre had taken place. Once again ignoring the bodies, he looked through the opening, judged the angle, tried to guess where the killer had stood, and then estimated the height of whatever had made that hole.

It looked to him as though some son of a shoopuf must have been wearing a cannon on his hat, and had neatly collected the cannonballs when he was done.

He reached out and touched the edge of the hole. It was charred. That wasn't just powder burns or soot; whatever it was that had punched the hole had charred the lath for a good half-inch around the opening. That had been something _hot._ A bullet wouldn't do that, nor would a cannonball.

Incendiaries of some kind?

But then why was the building still standing?

This was something different, something _strange_. If the killers had weapons that would punch holes through walls like this, maybe they had other things-perfect camouflage that made them effectively invisible, something that protected them from bullets.

Tidus began to feel something else, as well-something he had felt before, something he'd been feeling off and on for days, but never as strongly as this. It was a prickly feeling of something indefinably wrong, a feeling like something brushing the hairs at the back of his neck.

He remembered that, as a kid, he had wondered what it felt like to be hunted. Right now, he knew _exactly_ how it felt.

He turned; the room was empty. He looked through the hole, and the room on the other side was empty as well.

He stepped slowly away from the wall and turned a full 360 degrees, ending up facing the hole again. He didn't see anything-but the light was poor. And a good hunter always used camouflage. The prey wasn't _supposed _to see him.

And these hunters may have _perfect_ camouflage.

He started to turn again-and all of a sudden it was _there_, just at arm's length.

Tidus knew this was the killer, or at least one of the killers, and that he couldn't afford to play nice. He snatched at one of his spare longswords and pulled it from its sheath as he said, "Figured you might show up. I could _feel_ you. Can't say I'm that impress-"

He was talking to distract it, but it wasn't working; he was in the middle of a word, his longsword half-way drawn, when a huge yellowish fist slammed across his jaw and sent him reeling backward.

The longsword flew to one side, and Tidus' mouth filled with blood; the lower teeth on one end suddenly all felt loose. Blood spurted from his nose.

He landed on his hands and knees, facing away from the thing that loomed over him, outlined against the gaping hole in the wall.

"Lucky punch," he said, spitting out the blood in his mouth.

It wasn't human, Ronso, Guado or anything else on Spira. It stood on two legs and was shaped more or less like a man, but it was too big, and too fast. As he knelt, half-dazed for a fraction of a second, he saw its feet in their heavy silver sandals, saw the four toes with their curving black talons. He started to turn and saw the grayish-yellow legs, the gleaming metal greaves, the black netting that covered its body.

It wasn't any gang of outlaws that had done this massacre-it was _this_, this monster, this hunter, whatever it was.

But it didn't matter what it was, or what it looked like; he had to take it down. This things had attacked him, and it was payback time. It was big, strong, fast, and it had him down, but he had to beat it.

He couldn't afford the time to look at it, not when it was as fast as it was.

Tidus threw his weight forward onto his hands and dove a shoe upward at the thing's belly-and if he fell short and caught it in the crotch, he wouldn't mind that either.

He didn't catch it anywhere. A clawed hand caught him instead. Black talons locked around his ankle before his foot had covered half the distance intended, and the sunlight outside sparkled off jagged-edged blades that projected from the complicated band of gadgetry on the thing's wrist.

Before Tidus could even begin to twist, to struggle, to try to escape, the thing picked him up by that one leg and flung him away.

It moved impossibly fast, but with casual ease and grace, as if this was nothing for it, as if it wasn't even trying.

Then Tidus slammed into the wall and he stopped noticing details; he heard plaster and lath crunch on impact, and for a millisecond or so he hoped that he didn't hear any of his bones breaking.

Then his head snapped back and hit an exposed stud, and he wasn't able to hope anything.

He tried not to pass out, tried to force himself to full alertness. He was on the floor, looking up through a haze, and he saw those yellowish claws reaching for him, that blank thing that wasn't a face looking down at him…

It _wasn't_ a face. It was metal. The thing was wearing some kind of mask.

Then its fingers, or claws, whichever they were, closed in on Tidus' bruised jaw and wrenched his head sideways, exposing his neck, turning his eyes away so that he couldn't see anymore, and Tidus tried to force defiance out through the blood in his throat.

Then something bit into the flesh below his left ear, and Tidus screamed. Not so much at the pain-it hurt like hell, like three hot knives had just punched into his neck-but he could handle the pain. He screamed at the violation. The thing wasn't killing him. It was doing _something else_.

"What the hell…" he gasped as the thing stood up and stepped back, "did you do…" Tidus' hand closed on a broken two-by-four, and his anger gave him strength.

"… _to me!_" he shouted as he came up swinging.

The blow caught the creature on the side of its head, and the mask wrenched to one side. It reached up to straighten it, but Tidus was there first, following up his attack.

The crooked mask, or helmet, or whatever is was, was blocking the things vision. It was blinded.

If he could keep it blinded, he might have a chance.

He grabbed for the metal mask and got both thumbs under the edge. The thing reached up and ripped him away, but his grip held, and the mask tore free as well.

Something sparked, and Tidus heard a hiss like escaping gas, but he didn't have time to worry about that; he was falling backward, toward the hole in the wall where the windows had once been.

The mask was in his hands, but he didn't get a chance to look at it. He stumbled backwards, trying to balance himself, when his foot landed on something hard, something that shouldn't have been there something that went out from under him, and as he tumbled backward out the hole in the building's wall he realized that he had dropped over his own dropped longsword.

And then he was out the window and falling, falling headfirst to the street ten stories below.


	5. Recovery Part 1

Disclaimer: Come on. Bring it on. I dare you to sue me.

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Chapter 4; Part 1: Recovery

Guardians for summoners tend to get used to things, Wakka thought. There wasn't much that could faze a guardian after a few years of guarding summoners.

The fiends, long job hours, lack of sleep... Guardians got to handle stuff other people never thought about.

It was just part of the job. When weird stuff went down, you couldn't let it get to you. You just had to learn to deal with it.

When the real crazies were running loose, you couldn't let it throw you, couldn't waste time getting upset; you just had to deal with it before it got too far out of hand, and worry about what the hell it all meant later.

And when you hear a yell and you look up to see one of your fellow guardians come flying backward out of the tenth floor of a building, arms flailing, looking for something, anything, that would break his fall, you don't waste your time wondering how it happened, you deal with it.

Wakka had been standing out on the sidewalk, wiping sweat from the back of his neck, trying not to smell the garbage, wondering how long Tidus was going to be in there, thinking that he wasn't going to find anything-and Tidus had sailed out through the hole that the Al Bhed had blown through the wall, shouting Wakka's name.

Wakka's mind kicked into high, and he was thinking three or four things at once the instant he saw Tidus, up there in the sky.

There had to be someone in there, one of the killers, which was crazy-why would the killer still be there?

But it had to be one of the killers; who else would it be?

Maybe it was a guard the feds had sent up while he was down here waiting for Tidus, but why would a guard throw Tidus out of the building?

For that matter; who the hell _could_ throw Tidus out of the building?

And in any case, Wakka thought, he had to do something right now if he didn't want to see Tidus splatter on the sidewalk. This wasn't exactly the Tower Of Bevelle, but a ten-story fall was more than enough to kill a man.

As Tidus fell he grabbed for a wire at fourth-floor height. Wakka watched as he caught it, but couldn't hold on-the old wire, Wakka thought, this building was old enough it wouldn't have always been buried, and they'd never cleared the old one away.

Even as he saw Tidus reaching for the wire, Wakka was moving, he had already grabbed up two pairs of garbage bags with both hands; now he heaved them under Tidus, then snatched up four more, thanking Yevon for the latest garbage strike.

He had a fifth pair in his hands when Tidus hit, but he wasn't in time to use them. Black plastic exploded with a gigantic pop, and half-rotted garbage sprayed everywhere; Tidus slammed through the trash and onto the pavement.

Wakka dropped the last two bags and ran to Tidus' side, calling "Ti! Yevon! Are you all right?"

Tidus was obviously not all right, but he was breathing-sort of-and he was still conscious. "Just dandy," Tidus wheezed, spraying blood with each word. Wakka didn't stay to argue; he ran for the nearest pay phone.

Two minutes later he was back at Tidus' side. Tidus was unconscious, but Wakka said, "Hang on, the ambulance in coming, hang on." He looked up anxiously, and when he looked back, Tidus' eyes were wide open again.

"I _slipped_," he said. "On a banana peel." He coughed out a mouthful of blood. "You hear me? Wasn't anyone up there. I slipped! It was an accident!" Wakka nodded. "I hear you, man. It was an accident." He noticed for the first time that Tidus was clutching something in one hand, something strange. "What the hell is this?" He asked, reaching for it.

Tidus released the mask and gasped out, "I stole…the son of a shoopuf's hat…"

Then he was out again. Wakka looked at the 'hat'.

It could be a mask or helmet of some sort, all right, but if so, it was too big for anyone but a giant. It was metal, with a smooth, dull finish; inside Wakka could see gadgetry. There were little tubes along the sides, and oddly shaped plastic fittings here and there on the inside. The eyeholes were not open, but covered by multi-colored lenses of some kind.

Wakka couldn't imagine what the hell the things was for; the closest guess he could come up with was that it was some kind of hi-tech night-vision crap the Al Bhed had designed, but even that didn't seem very likely.

Whatever it was, Tidus wouldn't be able to hang on to it in the hospital, but somehow Wakka didn't think he would just want it turned over to the feds.

If the feds got it, it would probably end up on a pedestal in the Bevelle temple, right next to the statue of the fayth.

Wakka didn't know what the thing was, or what use it might be, but he didn't think it would do anyone any good locked in a drawer somewhere.

He wrapped the mask in his jacket (if he has one…), and when the ambulance arrived a moment later, he had it tucked securely under his arm. It stayed there as Wakka watched the paramedics strap Tidus to the stretcher and load him aboard the ambulance.

The crew wouldn't make any guesses about whether Tidus would live, or whether anything was broken. "No offense," one of them said, "but we don't need any malpractice suits, so we just do our jobs and keep our mouths shut."

They wouldn't let him ride in the ambulance with Tidus, so when it pulled away, lights flashing, Wakka looked around, thinking.

He could go up in that building, looking for whatever 'banana peel' that Tidus had slipped on, up there in the room where the Al Bhed and Yevonites had died, where the bodies had dripped blood in graceful spirals across the plaster dust-the room he was certain he would have nightmares about.

One of Tidus' longswords was missing, and he should look for that too. Wakka didn't like to think of himself as a coward; hell, he knew he wasn't a coward, not really. All the same, he wasn't about to go into that building again alone. Maybe if he had the rest of the party-but how could he call for them when Tidus had slipped and fallen?

He should do something, when your partner was beaten, you were supposed to do something, but he just couldn't. Besides, he had to know what was happening to Tidus. How badly was he hurt? He jogged towards the hospital.

* * *

They told him they didn't think Tidus was going to die right away, thought they wouldn't put it in writing, and no, he couldn't see the patient, but he could wait if he wanted, and there was some informing that he had to do… 

Wakka hated waiting. He hated hospitals, thought they all smelled like death mixed with linoleum. He had called Yuna to tell her about Tidus' condition, and Yuna's shriek was so loud that Wakka had to immediately hang up or live the rest of his life half-deaf. But at least he had Yuna's shriek ringing in his ear, giving him something else to concentrate on other than blank walls and human misery.

He was pacing the floor for the hundredth time when a young doctor in wire-trimmed glasses and a neatly trimmed beard asked, "Are you Sir Wakka?"

Wakka looked up and didn't bother to answer. The doctor's firm belly and tidy appearance made Wakka uncomfortably aware that his own gut was slightly bigger and softer than it was supposed to be.

"I read your preliminary report," the doctor said as he took Wakka by the arm and marched him towards Tidus' ward. "So Sir Tidus _tripped_, huh? I haven't seen an explanation that lame since third grade."

Wakka shrugged. He allowed himself to be led-after all, he wanted to see how Tidus was doing, and if the doctor wanted to show him something, so much the better.

"Look," the doctor said as they reached the door to Tidus' room, "I don't care what you tell your fellow guardians. I'm not a guardian, and it's not my business what you say, but I want some answers. I can't do my job properly if you lie to me. So what the hell happened?"

"What does it matter? Look, the guy's banged up, but a few stitches, a little rest, and he'll be good as new, right? He's not gonna die and make you look bad or anything." Wakka said as they stepped into the room. "I _know_ Tidus, Doc. This isn't anything."

He hoped very much, for Yuna's sake, that this wasn't anything, that Tidus wasn't going to die.

"Look enough of the bullshit. You don't get something like _that _from falling out of a building."

He thrust out a finger and pointed to Tidus' neck, just below the left ear.

Wakka had been taking in the monitors, the tubes up Tidus' nose, the bandages across his nose and forehead and around his jaw-even though he'd landed on his back when he hit the pile of trash. Now he looked where the doctor's finger indicated.

It was a lump of dully gleaming metal, about the diameter of a nickel, but rounded like a beetle or the head of a bolt-Wakka had a sudden mental image of Tidus as a Al Bhed designed half-machina man, with electrodes on either side.

By now he probably had enough medical machinery plugged into him for the part, too.

The metal thing was rimmed with blood-fresh blood, from the color; everywhere else the blood had either been wiped away or dried to an ugly red-brown, but here there was a circle that was still bright, bright red.

As Wakka watched, a thin red trickle ran down from Tidus' neck and dripped onto the pillow.

This wasn't anything Wakka had seen before; the garbage must have hidden it from his view when he had knelt over Tidus on the pavement.

Wakka looked questioningly at the doctor.

"We can't get it off without surgery," the doctor said. "Maybe not even then. It's got these barbed claws dug into the carotid artery, and anytime we start pulling at it, they start moving. If we tear it off, maybe even cut it off, it'll chew the blood vessels to pulp, and he'll bleed to death before we can heal him."

"Yevon," Wakka said, looking back at Tidus.

"We've scanned it, looked at it every way we know, and we can't see inside it or get any idea how it works. Now, Sir Wakka, would you mind telling me what the hell the thing _is_?"

"I'd like to, Doc," Wakka said honestly, "but I swear to Yevon I don't know."


	6. Recovery Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any FFX characters or weapons or anything of such resemblance. I don't own Blitzball. I don't own the Besaid Aurochs. I OWNED the Luca Goers.

* * *

Chapter 4: Recovery (Part 2)

Luzzu and Gatta were riding their chocobos along one of the side roads of Luca. It was the Blitz season and the streets were jam-packed with people, making them resort to using the alleyways in order not to get caught in the human jam.

Then, a strange whitish-blue blur streaked past them, causing Gatta's chocobo to get slightly distressed. He tugged hard at the reins and yelled at it several times before it decided to calm down.

"Sir, what the hell was that?" asked Gatta, panting and still slightly stunned at that encounter.

"I think it was-" Luzzu was cut off by a female voice from the back.

"A track star disguised as a Summoner," Lulu, finished as she and Kimahri ran past the two bewildered Crusaders.

Gatta still couldn't believe it was Lady Yuna, even after catching sight of her Guardians. "They said Summoners had superhuman strength, speed, endurance, and could survive wounds that would kill a normal human three times over, but this is absurd, she was running like a…a…" said Gatta, finding it hard to find the prefect descriptive word.

"Chocobo on an overdose of steroids," Luzzu finished(Damn…if Yuna was a real person, she'd be the MVP of the track and field world…)

* * *

A/N: Skipping ahead to the hospital scene. 

Wakka was feeling bored. And all this worrying was making him hungry. He remembered seeing a vending machine down the hallway that sold "Mars" chocolate bars. Normally he shunned Machina, but he, like the temple, made some exceptions. A vending machine that dispensed his favourite "Mars" bars was included in the list.

He walked to the door and was about to open it when he heard a weird thundering sound coming from down the hallway. Thinking little of it, he put his hand to the handle and was about to pull the door open when someone flung it open from the other side. Whoever flung it open did so hard, very hard.

Wakka was thrown backwards and the same whitish-blue streak that the Crusaders had seen dashed into the room. Wakka had his head buried under some extra linen, kept on the table he crashed into, and he couldn't see what was happening, but from what he heard, he was glad he couldn't.

Finally, when all the noise died down, he dared to dig his way out of the heap of sheets and took a peek out. Lulu and Kimahri were standing at the door, panting and there was equipment and other medical apparatus scattered all around the room. And Yuna? Where was she?

His eyes scanned around the room and he caught sight of her, lying on Tidus' bed.

"Damn…where'd Yuna learn to run so fast!" asked Wakka.

"Beats me," muttered Lulu before collapsing.

Kimahri just shrugged.

"If I'd known, I'd have signed her up for track n' field instead of cooking," muttered Wakka.

* * *

Tidus was busy wandering around dreamland when a sudden jolt of pain flushed him back to reality. 

He saw a blurred image of someone on his bed.

"Must be the nurse," he muttered to himself, until his vision finally cleared.

It wasn't the nurse, it was the Summoner. And she was on his bed. On his bed!

Startled, Tidus tried to get out of bed, or at least sit up, but the pain refused to let him.

"Er…howdy Lady Summoner, may I help you?" he asked in a slightly embarrassed tone.

"Well, not really," replied Yuna sheepishly.

"Then could you do something for me?" Tidus asked.

"Sure, name it," replied Yuna.

"Get off, you're heavy."

* * *

A/N: Blitzball practice! 

Wakka was overseeing the Besaid Aurochs having their usual training. They were doing the basic stuff, throwing, catching, and shooting. There was an air of nervousness around the dock. Yet, there was also a feeling of confidence.

Then, Wakka heard footsteps coming down the dock. Without thinking, he slammed his foot into the nearest Blitzball, sending it shrieking towards the intruder. However, the intruder casually volleyed it back to Wakka. It was only Tidus.

"Goddamn Tidus, you scared the fuck outta me! I thought you were some Luca Goer spy," said Wakka.

"Relax man, I've just come to train with you guys," replied Tidus.

"In you con-" Wakka stopped when he noticed Tidus didn't have any bandages or visible wounds, a great contrast to a few hours ago.

"Yuna patched me up, hate to admit it but she did a bloody good job," said Tidus.

"You gotta be kidding me," said Wakka.

"No jokes," said Tidus, as he readied himself for a kick.

He slammed the Blitzball full force into a concrete wall with a red and white bulls-eye about fifty feet away. It hit with astounding accuracy. He then backed a full ten feet before slamming another ball into the wall. He then repeated the process until he was over two hundred feet away.

Then he stopped. The wall started to crack a little, before even larger cracks appeared. Then, it gave a short rumble before it crashed to pieces.

The Aurochs all stared at the phenomenon, with their jaws opened so wide you could stuff Blitzballs in.

They just might have a chance this year.

* * *

On the roof of a short building, three figures in purple and blue jerseys were spying on the Aurochs practice. They were Bickson, Abus and Graav. 

"So, boss, what you think of that?" asked Graav when they saw what Tidus just did.

"I think its good," replied Bickon.

"How's it good?" asked Abus.

"Competition."

* * *

Dachande breathed in the air of the planet's atmosphere. It stung and burned his lungs until it was nearly unbearable. He needed his mask, and he needed it back fast. 

Then, he noticed a strange metallic object on a nearby bench. Curious, he moved in for a closer look. His curiosity paid off. It was his mask.

Delighted, he put it on and his normal vision was replaced by heat-vision.

He was back in business.

* * *

A/N: This is on the Al-Bhed ship where Yuna was held. 

The Oblitzerator's targeting computer was locked on to a yellow blur streaking around the deck of the ship. Its Blitzball cannons were firing at full speed, but they all seemed to miss.

With the Oblitzerator focused on Tidus, Kimahri was able to gear up for a "Jump" attack. Springing into the air, he landed spear-first onto the top of the Oblitzerator. The Machina then thrashed about wildly, trying to get Kimahri off. It succeeded and Kimahri was thrown violently off the Machina.

However, his spear remained, deeply embedded past the Machina's armor. Lulu then blasted the spear with a fully-powered "Thunder" attack. Several chunks of the Oblitzerator fell of with minor explosions and sparks flew from the gaping holes, exposing the inner core.

Oblitzerator then stopped moving and crashed to the ground with a dull thud. The core then glowed brightly before exploding, sending pieces of shrapnel and other debris flying in all directions.

* * *

On the Mess Hall of the ship, the Al-Bhed crew members were having a meal when the explosion took place. They were startled, but showed little concern. Then, the door to the Mess Hall was suddenly torn off its hinges violently and several bluish-white bolts of plasma energy streaked through the room, hitting some crew men with astounding accuracy. 

There was a short pause before all hell broke loose. Soldiers scrambled to the other side of the hall with their weapons and fired blindly at the doorway while engineers and other non-combat personnel fled to other rooms.

The fighting was intense, yet brief. In fact, it wasn't so much of a fight, more of a massacre. Tortured screams and the monotonous "bang bang bang" of automatic weapons slowly died down and the Mess Hall was covered in an eerie silence.

* * *

Tidus had used whatsoever Al-Bhed primers he found along the way, as well as an "English to Al-Bhed" dictionary to translate the signs on the ship. Not that he needed to actually, since there were pictures on the signs too. 

It took them quite some time to get to the hold of the ship where Yuna was being held. The ship was a big fucking maze that would make even the Minotaur from Greek mythology proud. The signs, though informative, were as reliable as the Crusaders themselves. They were always late, lost, or had something on.

Finally, through either gut instinct, or sheer luck, they made it to the hold. Tidus pressed the button to open the door and was immediately forced to dive for cover from the oncoming hail of bullets fired from, judging from the sound and caliber, a sub machinegun.

After several minutes, the firing stopped and footsteps were heard pounding towards them. Whoever fired the gun was charging. Tidus then stuck out his foot and tripped the person, who, undefeated, started to hit him with a staff of rod of sorts.

"Take that you rotten Al-Bhed!" yelled his assailant.

Tidus groaned and grabbed the staff. It wielder stopped hitting him and grinned sheepishly. It was Yuna.

Lulu then peered into the Hold, only to see bullet holes on the walls and bodies scattered all around.

"They really pissed you off, didn't they?"

* * *

"I've seen that sign before, you know what that means? It means we're walking in circles! I told you we should have turned, but no…you just had to have it your own fucking way!" yelled Tidus. 

"Shut up! At least we're walking in circles and not walking deeper into the ship!" retorted Lulu.

Then, Kimahri stopped, causing three people behind him to crash headlong into each other.

"What the fu-" Tidus was cut off by the sounds of someone crying.

The group slowly approached the source of the sound, only to see a room filled with dead bodies and coated in a rich coat of crimson blood. Skinned bodies were hanging from the ceiling and weapons were scattered everywhere. There were bullet holes on the wall, as well as something else. Tidus instantly recognized the huge holes on some of the walls. They were identical to those in the office. Whoever did this had him hanging for his life ten stories above Luca Square.

Yuna ran out of the room and started vomiting all her lunch out. Kimahri followed to help her. Tidus then found that one of the Al-Bhed soldiers was still alive, and he was crying.

"What the hell happened here?" asked Tidus.

"We were having lunch when some big thing came in. Started shooting' but we all got killed. I pretended to be dead and that's why I'm here. Wait a minute! Are you with him? Are you gonna turn me into that!" yelled the traumatized Al-Bhed soldier as he pointed to one of the skinned bodies.

"Well…" Tidus started.

"I knew it! You were with him! You're not taking me! I'll blow your brains out! Get away from me!" he yelled as he started firing his pistol wildly. However, from his position, he couldn't even aim, let alone hit.

Bullets ricocheted off the walls and left deep marks. Somehow, one found its way to Tidus' cheek and gave him a small scratch.

That was the final straw. He approached the man and slammed his fist into the former's temple. The Al-Bhed blacked out.

"So? We give him to the cops?" asked Tidus.

Some time later, the Al-Bhed was being led towards a waiting car to be taken to the station.

Suddenly, Lulu remembered about Wakka and the game. She grabbed a flare and threw it into the air, signaling to Wakka that Yuna was ok.

* * *

A/N: Blitzball Finals! Luca Goers fans beware! 

"Remember boys! Zone defense! Keep them at bay! We beat them ten years ago; we can beat them this time!" Wakka yelled at the Aurochs.

"But Cap'n that was ten years ago, and we had the Blitz ace Sir Jecht to help us, who do we have now?" asked a pessimistic Botta.

"You don't say," Said Jassu, "we absolutely owned the Al-Bhed Psyches; we just might be able to pull off another upset win!"

"Jassu's got a point; we're in top form now! We can do it," encouraged Letty.

"Come on guys! The match is starting, lets go go go!" shouted Wakka.

"Yes Cap'n!" replied the Aurochs in unison as they trooped out of the locker room, looking like a proper Blitzball team.

Wakka was proud. These were his boys, disciplined and professional in their own right.

* * *

"Good afternoon Luca! Welcome to the finals of the Crystal Cup!" announced the cheerful commentator Jimma. 

"That's right folks! We've got a spectacular match for you today between our very own Luca Goers and the Besaid Aurochs," said his partner Bobba, "For all you out there at the betting stands, the odds for this match are Luca Goers 6.78, Besaid Aurochs 3.22 according to Luca Pools."

"I don't know about you Bobba, but I got my money on the Besaid Aurochs. Judging by the way they thrashed the Al-Bhed Psyches 6-0, I'd say their in top form," commented Jimma.

"But up against a team like the Luca Goers, you never know!" replied Bobba.

"And look! Here they come now!"

* * *

Wakka entered the Sphere Pool and swam to his starting location. The referee then approached and the ceremonial handshake between the two captains took place. 

"May the best team win," said Wakka.

"Indeed," replied Bickson.

The referee then started the ball, and the game was on!

Graav, the Goer's center, jumped and reached for the ball. He was about to make contact with it when a yellow blur streaked upwards and beat him to it. _Damn, since when did he get so fast!_

Letty, now with the ball in his possession, tossed it to Datto, who then volleyed it to Wakka. With adrenaline coursing through his body, Wakka sliced through the Goers defense like a hot knife through butter. Within seconds he was within firing range and he slammed the ball with all his might at the Goer's goal.

Raudy, the Goer's keeper, managed to get his hand onto the ball, but by doing so, he had to endure the bone-crunching impact of Wakka's kick. Somehow, he managed to find the strength to fling the ball to Doram, but Wakka was instantly in front of her.

Intercepting the pass, Wakka grabbed the ball again and shot it again at the goal. This time, Raudy was not so lucky. Caught unawares, he was unable to save the ball and conceded a goal.

The crowd roared with applause as the big screen on the stadium showed the replay. A chime went of and the number on the Auroch's scoreboard had changed from 0 to 1.

Bickson was getting impatient. Wakka had improved too much and had to be shut out from the rest of the match. He did several hand signals, then pretended his hand was a knife and slit his throat. Devilish grins appeared on the faces of the Goers.

Blitzoff! Graav deliberately fumbled the ball and lost possession to Letty, who, as usual passed it to a surprisingly unmarked Wakka. Wakka then tore down the right flank and tried to get within firing range.

Big mistake. All that he did was isolate himself from the other Aurochs. Now, alone in Goer territory, he was out of shooting range, but reluctant to pass and loose possession. This was exactly what Bickson wanted.

The Goers the violently tackled Wakka again and again, causing him to roar with agony. They continued for some time more until they were confident Wakka was too battered to play. Then they resumed their usual tactics.

With their mainstay unable to play properly, the Aurochs were sitting ducks and the Goers quickly equalized, and my fifteen minutes to full time, had chalked up a 2 goal lead.

Taking the initiative, Datto called for a time out.

* * *

The Aurochs were feeling miserable. They had such high expectations, but now all hope was lost. Yes, they did try to encourage each other, but it was hopeless. There was an air of misery and despair in the locker room. 

"Damn…we were going so well, but the Goers just had to use their dirty tricks and screw the game up!" cursed Letty, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah, now we're one man down, looks like were gonna have to forfeit," said Botta.

"I…can…still…play…" Wakka managed to choke out.

"Er…no offense Cap'n ya? But you look kinda beat," said Jassu.

"Looks like we'll have to forfeit," muttered Botta.

Despite being arguably the worst team in Spira's history, they had their dignity and NEVER quit, no matter how terrible to odds.

There was an eerie silence throughout the entire locker room. Even the seemingly noisy air-conditioner had mysteriously gone mute.

"I remember this happening ten years ago," Letty finally broke the silence, "They used the same bloody tactic against old Cap'n Ryu. We thought we were goners, but thank Yevon the Blitz ace Sir Jecht stepped in and subbed Cap'n out. Man, he whipped us into shape with just his words and we went on to thrash those bastards up."

"Not as if someone is gonna step in now-" Botta was cut off by the heavy door creaking open on its old, rusty hinges.

"Miss me?" a familiar voice asked.

"Hey! It's the kid!" shouted Keppa in Joy.

"You here to play with us?" asked Jassu.

"Yup," replied Tidus, "And what was that about Jecht just now?"

"Nothing, just reliving old times," said Letty, "Why do you ask? What's up with you and Sir Jecht?"

"He…he's my old man," Tidus said as he proceed to the back of the room.

The Aurochs were stunned. They were dealing with the son of a legend? The great Sir Jecht? They stared blankly into space with the jaws hanging open.

"Ok! Secret strategy meeting! Gather round," called Tidus. The Aurochs obeyed.

"When this happens, we can do either this, this or this. If this fails, we can do this. When I do this, do………"

* * *

"Welcome back folks! An unexpected turn of events has just taken place. The besaid Aurochs have substituted right –winger Captain Wakka for a certain Tidus," announced Jimma. 

"Well, perhaps Tidus is a free agent the Aurochs signed in desperation," commented Bobba.

"Either that, or he could very well be their secret weapon," replied Jimma.

"Well, only time will tell. Meanwhile, lets all enjoy the match!"

* * *

Tidus entered the Sphere Pool and took a good look around. There were the fans, the goalposts, the commentators' booth, and most importantly, the opposing team. It felt just like home. Except here, they didn't know a thing about the near-legendary-when-back-in-Zanarkand Tidus, son of Jecht. 

Tidus then swam up to Bickson and extended his hand for a shake. Bickson complied.

"May the best team win," said Bickson.

"Of course. But we all know that it'll be us, cause' (imitating Bickson's voice from Kilika temple) the Besaid Aurochs always win," replied Tidus as he swam off.

This served to piss Bickson off big time. He wasn't just gonna beat the Aurochs. He was gonna humiliate them.

Blitzoff! Letty managed to reach for the ball a second before Graav did. Cranking up, he tossed a long pass to Tidus who magically darted in and out of the Goers' defense, leaving them utterly confused, not to mention awed.

Once in firing range, he let off a shot that streaked through the water like a torpedo. Despite its speed, Raudy was somehow able to deflect it and the ball was loose once again.

Datto saw a break in the Goers' defense and went in to try and claim the pass. Desperate to reclaim possession, he dove for the ball, only to find that he had misjudged the distance and speed. He missed the ball narrowly, but the momentum caused him to charge forth and ram the ball with his head.

A chime was heard shortly after, as well as the roar of a frenzied crowd. Datto then looked around and saw the other Aurochs swimming towards him. _Great. They're gonna kill me for loosing possession and conceding another goal._

But they didn't. Instead, they hugged him, cheered and patted him on the back. Confused, he looked at the scoreboard in time to see the '1' under the Besaid Aurochs' logo change to '2'. Under it in fine print was the following: 'Datto 17th min'.

He'd just scored. (Diving header. Not bad eh?)

* * *

Abus was horrified at the way Datto had just scored. It definitely couldn't have been planned. Or could it? His thoughts swirled around him again and again. _Could the Aurochs actually beat us this time?_

Who cared anyway? He was within firing range and he could probably pull this one off. Slamming a shot in the direction of Keppa, he kept his fingers crossed and hoped that Yevon would give him a chance to further his goal tally.

But Yevon wasn't on his side today. Whether by sheer luck or hidden talent, Keppa expertly dove in the direction of the oncoming ball and punched it back into play, pausing shortly after to massage his sore arms.

Seeing his chance, Bickson scrambled for the loose ball and got it before anyone else. His eyes darted around the Sphere pool. He didn't see any defense. Except Jassu, who was approaching fast. He was confident he could pull it off, after all, he'd gotten it past Jassu millions of times.

He closed his eyes and wound up for his special shot, the Corkscrew Shot (Duh I know that the Corkscrew Shot it an FFX-2 Blitzball move, but do I care?). After several flamboyant acrobatic flips and twists, he opened his eyes to fire the shot. However, instead of seeing the usual scene of the Sphere Pool, the goal and the cheering fans beyond, all he saw was a foot. Jassu's foot.

He endured the crushing force of the solid tackle before feeling the ball being snatched from his arms. Then, he was forced back and crashed onto the wall of the Sphere Pool (I know Tidus shoved someone out of the Sphere Pool before, but I need the Goers to stay in the pool. You'll see the wisdom of that later).

Jassu then passed the ball to Letty, who cruised through the water at breakneck speed before being confronted by Graav. Graav wound up for a tackle and Letty covered his face and braced himself for the impact. It came and he felt the ball being snatched out of his arms.

Pissed, he spun around to give chase, but felt a sharp pain coursing through his body. _What the fuck! Theasshole hit me with a venom tackle!_

Graav glanced back and saw his opponent groaning in pain. There was only one person that could withstand his venom tackle and that was Bickson. This earned him respect, and it was out of this respect that he transferred to the Luca Goers. He smiled in sadistic glee and resumed his charge, only to be confronted by Botta.

He thought lightly of Botta and used his arms to shield his body from the impact. An unexpected and overwhelming force greeted him and the ball was stanched from his hands.

Pissed, he tried to give chase, only to feel a sharp pain coursing through his body. _How'd he learn venom tackle!_

Botta glanced at Graav clutching his stomach and chuckled to himself. They didn't call him 'Botta the Copycat' for nothing. _There, a taste of his own medicine. Do onto others what you want other to do onto you indeed._

He then fed Tidus a long pass.

* * *

Tidus received the pass and busted through the Goers' defense like an armor-piercing round bunking through a concrete block. 

Then, Belgerda and Doram, desperate to prevent him from equalizing, did a double-team on him. However, instead of trying to break past, he prepared for a shot. _From this distance! And with us marking him!_

It was only then did Belgerda notice the Tidus wasn't aiming for the goalpost at all. Rather, he was aiming straight for her.

* * *

Raudy was having a terrible day. First, he had to endure the bone-crunching impact of Wakka's kick. Then, the Aurochs took an early lead courtesy of Wakka. Then, they played dirty and shut Wakka out of the match before taking a two goal lead. Then the new guy comes in and the bald guy (Datto) scored with his head. Then, the redhead (Botta) learns venom tackle and the other guy (Jassu) blocks Bickson's Corkscrew Shot. 

And now, the new guy wants to shoot from two hundred yards away with two defenders blocking him. But to Raudy's utter horror, Tidus casually slammed the Blitzball into the two defenders' faces, knocking them out. He then proceeds to spin crazily like a madman before kicking the ball at him at an astonishing speed.

Raudy was trying to anticipate where the ball was coming from when it started to spin and dart about in wild directions. Then, it disappeared momentarily before appearing again at the back of the net.

Raudy, as well as the commentators and the spectators, were stunned beyond words. They had all, most of them anyway, seen the shot before. But where, when, and most importantly, by who?

Then, it struck Raudy. This was the Sublimely Magnificent Jecht shot Mach 3 (Jecht shot 2 actually), performed by none other than the great Blitz ace Sir Jecht himself ten years ago when he played for the Aurochs. Most thought it had been lost to history, but some believed that it would resurface. Their patience paid off and this spectacular display was their reward.

"The…Aurochs…have…equalized…THE AUROCHS HAVE EQUALIZED!" Jimma practically yelled into the microphone.

A loud cheer resounded throughout the stadium. Fans hugged each other and yelled in happiness. Their team might actually win this year.

* * *

Tidus was now facing a big problem. Now both teams were desperate for another goal. They had successfully defended their goal from an all-out Goer attack, but how long more would they be able to hold out? 

Tidus glanced around and saw the goers retreating to their half of the Sphere Pool. Despite the fact that the Aurochs had possession now, they all looked half-dead, while the Goers were still kinda energetic. If they went into overtime, they would be screwed.

He needed to attack them from an angle that they were not prepared to defend. But from where? Then, it occurred to him. Of course! From above.

He issued several orders through hand-signals and slammed his fist into his palm. This time it was the Aurochs' turn to have devilish grins on their faces.

"Ten seconds left!" announced Bobba.

_Ten seconds? Good that will be all the time we need._

"NINE!"

Keppa passed the ball to Letty.

"EIGHT!"

Letty fed the ball to Botta with a long pass.

"SEVEN!"

Botta slammed the ball to Jassu.

"SIX!"

Jassu volleyed the ball to Datto.

"FIVE!"

Datto back flipped and sent the ball speeding upwards to a Tidus who was already streaking that way.

"FOUR!"

Both Tidus and the ball broke the surface of the water.

"THREE!"

Tidus back flipped and prepared to execute _his_ special shot: The Sphere Shot. _Outta the way Jecht. This is my show._

"TWO!"

Tidus slammed his foot into the ball, sending it streaking back into the water.

"ONE!"

The ball charged thought the poll with the force and destructive power of a meteor entering Spira's atmosphere. Just, instead of leaving a trail of debris and wreckage in its wake, it left a trail of utterly stunned and subdued Goers.

"ZERO!"

The ball crashed into the back of the net just in time.

The crowd went ecstatic, hats were thrown and balloons were released. A great cry of joy engulfed the entire Luca. For that moment, every thought was banished from those present's minds. Except for the Besaid Aurochs winning. It had been a long wait, but now it was over. Despite immense odds, the Aurochs managed to defeat a superior team and bring the Crystal Cup back to Besaid.

Tidus crashed back into the water and was instantly surrounded by the rest of the Aurochs. They cheered, hugged each other, slapped each other on the back and laughed till they cried.

Tidus then looked around. His vision then changed. He no longer saw the Luca stadium illuminated with sunlight. Instead, he saw stars and the night sky light brightly with spotlights. He was no longer in Luca. He was back home on Zanarkand and the Aurochs were replaced with the Zanarkand Abes. Then, the vision faded and he was back in Luca again. But who cared? They still won. The spirit of victory was still there.

He gazed at the cheering fans. They were cheering his name. Shouts of "Tidus! Tidus! Tidus!" echoed throughout the stadium. He roared and pumped his fist into the air.

This game was theirs.

* * *

Review review review review review 

To Anasazi Darkmoon: Thanks for the reviews, we'll always be you No. 1 fans! Please 'advertise' our story and help us contact GodsaveFF about our comeback!


	7. Postgame Carnage

Disclaimer: I'm a bastard with not a penny to my name…let alone the rights to an award winning PS2 game… In short…I don't own no nothing

Chapter 4: Post Game Carnage

Bickson's vision flashed a fiery red. He was downright pissed. And when he was pissed, no one liked him. He swam towards to the celebrating Aurochs, intent in giving them a piece of his mind. A big piece.

The Goers watched on hopelessly. Yes, Bickson was the top scorer in the league, but he had also collected the most fines, penalties and match-bans, most, if not all due to ungentlemanly behavior. The Goers practiced and played extra hard so as to win, for their sakes as well as the opposing team's. But the Aurochs had bested them, and with a pissed off Bickson, there was near to nothing they could do.

However, as the Goers looked on in horror, no one noticed several shades moving at inhuman speeds behind them.

Bickson approached the nearest Auroch, Jassu, and was about to throw the first punch, when he heard a cry of great pain and agony from the Goers half of the sphere pool. Spinning around in surprise, he saw a gruesome sight. Graav's severed head was floating freely in the water, dyeing it a deep hue of crimson.

Doram was being torn apart by a Sahagin, an amphibious fiend that was deadly on land but more impressive in water, its clawed fins and hooked teeth made it a formidable foe. She yelled for help, but barely managed to breath the word out before being diced.

The Sahagins were playing some sort of sadistic "catch the body" game with Abus' decapitated body while just a few feet away, Belgerda tried in vain to barrel-roll from the claws of a charging Sahagin, swimming straight into the jaws of another.

Raudy valiantly tried to defend himself, but overwhelming numbers and lack of skill proved fatal and, as though in vengeance, the Sahagins made his death the most painful by taking turns to claw him.

As Bickson watched his teammates get butchered, he didn't notice a lone Sahagin sneaking up onto him until he felt his thigh getting grazed. Immediately, he turned back to come face to face with his would-be-killer. He closed his eyes, prayed for a quick, painless death and braced himself for the pain. But it never came. Curious, he opened his eyes, only to see the Sahagin gently float to the bottom of the Sphere pool.

"Hey you! Get outta there! We'll cover you!" He heard a voice call.

He turned to the source and saw Wakka and Tidus, fully –armed and butchering Sahagins as the last of the Aurochs exited the sphere pool. Without hesitation, he sped towards the exit as fast as his limbs could carry him.

The distance was closing rapidly, fifteen meters, then ten…five…three…two

_Haleluja! I'mgonna make it! Thank Yevon! Salvation promised indeed! _He thought.

Then, he felt a sharp pain in his back. Turning back, he saw his assailant coming in for another strike. Prepared to fight for his life, he clenched his fists and prepared for a fight.

Just before impact, he noticed a blue flash hitting the Sahagin, the heat from the blast caused his skin to burn. He was surrounded by white light, then he knew no more. (You know who gets another frag)

Auron stepped into the stadium, noting the carnage that was taking place. There were fiends everywhere, in the pool, in the stands, circling around in the air…everywhere. Coyotes ran amongst the stands, picking off the straglers of the crowd. Immense Garudas swooped from high above and scooped up the fleeing spectators in droves and shoved them violently into their great maws. Vouires incinerated whole sections of the crowd while the smaller helms finished off all that remained.

Calmly, Auron made his way in the direction the crowd was running from. Once he reached the end if the crowd, he was confronted by a large Vouire. It drew in a deep breath and let out a loud threatening roar.

"Dude, I suggest you invest in some tic-tac because you know what? Your breath stinks!"

With that he lunged forward to deliver a punishing slash with his oversized katana. (is it even a katana in the first place?) The Vouire just stood there stunned as Auron backed off and left. Then, a straight crack in its hide appeared. There was a look of horror imprinted on its face even as it's head tumbled to the ground and rolled a few feet, spilling blood all over.

"Auron!"

"Sir Auron!"

Auron heard two voices calling out for him, one sounded exceptionally familiar. He spun around and saw Wakka and Tidus.

"So…you do know him," said Tidus.

"Duh…best guardian in the business…the Micheal Jackson of the Guardian business," replied Wakka.

"No time to waste! Here they come!" ordered Auron as he braced himself for the impending onslaught if fiends.

I there was someone enjoying all this carnage, it was Dachande. Perched on a comfortable vantage point on the roof of the stadium with his cloak activated, he was observing the way the humans reacted to a situation like this. They did what he expected them to do: flee. Yes, they fled, like the pathetic cowards they were. While several were fighting for their lives, the majority were running.

His own people would not react this way. They would stand as find, going down in honour if they had to. But fleeing was totally out of the question. However, what impressed him were the colourful varieties of fiends. The smaller, more agile fiends were a hard target to hit, while the larger, armour-plated fiends would probably be equally tough nuts to crack.

Then, he heard a low grow behind his back. He spun around to see a large four-legged fiend, a Dual Horn, easily recognizable by its dual back horns. It struck a aggressive posture and prepared to strike. Dachande was highly impressed that it could smell him.

_It can't see me but it can smell me…impressive…_

The Dual Horn lunged forth in attack, it was quick, but Dachande was quicker. He grabbed the fiends' dual horns and slammed it to the ground. _Fast, but not fast enough._

He finished it off with a fully charged blow of the plasmacaster, reducing it to pryeflies.

Then, a ear-piecing screech rang out behind him. He spun around and faced a Garuda. The Garuda raised its talon and struck, Dachande. But it was too slow, and Dachande had ignited his jet-packs and had mounted on its back.

He then proceed to extend his wrist-blades and stabbed them violently into the body of the great flying beast again and again. The Garuda roared in great agony and started to lose altitude. Dachande then extended his spear and stabbed it home into the Garuda's spine. It split with a sickening 'crack'. Dachande then managed to jump of the beast's back onto an outcrop as the Garuda slammed onto the ground.

Seymour didn't have a clue what the hell was going on. First, he was asked to attend the blitzball tournament to gain the support of the public. Then, they had (Warning: Spoiler imminent) released the fiends and Seymour was supposed to destroy them, again to get the support of the people.

He had several problems with that. Firstly, he didn't like Blitzball. He had better things to do as a kid that kicking a blue-and-white ball, like playing Barbie dolls for instance. Another problem: the purple team lost! He couldn't believe it! And to make matters worse, the yellow team won. Oh how he hated yellow.

But now he had an even bigger problem: the fiends were not only just scaring him, they were freaking him out. How'd you expect someone to fight when he was afraid. In fact, he was so afraid that he had wet his pants.

Just summon Anima and everything will be fine…that was what Tromel had said, screw him. Like he knew what Seymour was going through right now. But then again, safe under his chair, what could find him?

A Garuda then appeared right in front of him and bellowed, scaring the living daylight out of him. He screamed, cried and flailed his arms in desperation. The, as though on cue, a grappling hook descended from the heavens and dragged Anima up from hell.

Anima then proceeded to make short work of the rest of the fiends courtesy of her overwhelming power. Relived, the crowd started cheering and clapping for Seymour. Seymour then struck a James Bond pose and did a classic Evil Emperor laugh.

Mwahahahahahahacoughchokewheezehahahahahahahahahaha

In the dark hallway, Tromel, steward and advisor to Maester Seymour grinned with evil intent. The first phase of 'Operation: Hail to the Chief' had gone on successfully, the rest would follow suit in time to come.

"Damn…who unleashed the fiends?" queried Wakka.

"If I knew do you think I'd be here?" replied a rather agitated Lulu.

"Maester Seymour's aeon, it was so powerful!" commented Yuna, still dazed in awe.

"Don't worry Yuna, if you go to Baaj Temple and pray there, you can obtain it," said Wakka, reading a peculiar blue book.

MC: STOP READING THE GUIDE BOOK! NO SPOILERS!

"Sorry," Wakka apologized and threw the book away.

"So, do you think he'll stay?' asked Wakka.

"Of course Maester Seymour will leave, his home's in Guadosalam you know. You really ought to use your brain sometimes," replied Lulu.

"I meant the kid," said Wakka.

"Oh, he'll…"

Lulu was cut short when they noticed Auron walking towards them.

"Greetings Sir Auron. Thanks for the help just now," said Yuna.

"Cut the formalities, I want to be you Guardian. Do you accept?" said Auron.

"Of course I accept, welcome Sir Auron," replied a shocked Yuna. "But why?"

"I promised Braska," he answered,

"And he comes along too," said Auron as he shoved Tidus forth, "This one I promised Jecht."

"Er hello guys, howdy…" muttered Tidus sheepishly.

"You look sad, is something bothering you?" asked Yuna.

"Not really," replied Tidus.

"When I feel sad, I smile, it makes me feel better," said Yuna as she smiled, "Come on, now you try."

Tidus managed to fake a miserable smile, but it was still a smile.

"Good, now laugh," ordered Yuna.

"Here!" questioned Tidus.

"Come on, no one will laugh at you," assured Yuna.

Tidus took a deep breath and gave out a series of overly-sarcastic laughs. However, to his surprise, Yuna joined in. They laughed for some time before stopping and laughing heartily over how moronic each other looked.

Suddenly, Tidus felt a sharp pain coming from his neck wound. He let out a yelp of pain and spun around, only to notice a shroud which vanished as fast and as misteriously as it appeared.

"What's wrong?" asked Yuna.

"Nothing, just a muscle pull," replied Tidus.

It'll be several more months before Tidus would find out what that shroud actually was.


	8. Encounters

Disclaimer: Do I have to do this? Ok, fine….I doesn't own anything. Happy?

* * *

Chapter 5: Encounters

"…and that, as they say, is that," concluded a pretty satisfied Maechen. Turning back, he noticed that his audience was reduce to only Yuna, who was listening attentively, and Tidus, who was already in dreamland. Noticing that Tidus had dozed off, Yuna gave him a sharp jab in the ribs.

"Huh! Oh, it's over? Well that was fast. Thanks for the history lesson anyway," said Tidus, relieved it was over, no that he sat through much of it anyway. He walked off muttering to himself, "Bullshit, pure bullshit."

Then, Maechen noticed three laser dots focusing on Tidus' back. Then, as quick as they appeared, they disappeared. Maechen called out, "Young man!"

Slightly frustrated, Tidus spun around and said, "What?"

"There's something following you. My advice: watch your back and be careful. Very careful," advised Maechen. (Hmmm…perhaps this old man knows more than we know…)

"Whatever…" replied Tidus, before heading off to join the rest of the party.

* * *

Maechen rented a chocobo and was traveling along the highroad at his own leisurely pace. Then, perched on one of the many ruins littering the highroad, he noticed a black shroud. It was as tall as a Ronso, but looked as if it was covered in a sort of Machina. Then, it disappeared. 

"Perhaps you'd like to hear a story about that creature?" Maechen asked the chocobo.

As if it understood, the chocobo gave a squeal of consent.

"Very well. Long ago, in Zanarkand's Prime (as in about 10000 years ago when Zanarkand was standing), the people of Zanarkand tried to make contact with extra-terrestrial life-forms. They used huge beacons to transmit radio-waves and signals to solar systems far beyond. However, all they did was reveal Spira's location to a race of aliens that were far superior to us both physically and technologically. They had mastered the art of space travel and were as big as the mighty Ronso, perhaps as strong. If they had descended to Spira and started an invasion, we would have been decimated instantly."

Maechen paused for a while, but as if in frustration, the chocobo started to squeak and pout. Maechen gladly continued, "However, they were only interested in sport and every century, they would send a representative to descend to Spira and go hunting. If he succeeded, he would be given great recognition and would be promoted to be a leader. So far, only two men had succeeded in defeating one of these great beings. They are Lord Zaon himself, husband and Guardian to Lady Yunalesca, and another man, whose name has been, sadly, lost to history. However, one fact that we do know is that he was Lady Lenne's Guardian... as we know nothing about them except of their hunting habits, we have named them 'Predators'. And that, as they say, is that."

As if in appreciation, the chocobo gave a squeal of delight.

"Oh! We're there already! Time passes when you're having fun doesn't it?" (Actually…it doesn't take that long…does it?)

* * *

A/N: Ah, Rin's Travel Agency…one of those helpful shops that you'll always welcome the sight of. It's like Spira's version of 7-11, or MacDonald's, or…or…Oh yeah! That's the name: Bob's Guns and Nukes 

Rin was pacing impatiently around the Travel Agency. He had insisted that the Summoner and her Guardians stayed in the Agency, after all, it had solid stone walls, and the fiend was only after the chocobos. But they had to have an overwhelming sense of justice and poke their noses into that affair. If the Summoner died, he would have more than his usual Highroad fiends to deal with. He'd probably be looking at a frenzied mob of torch-bearing, pitchfork-toting Yevonites.

Then, he glanced out the window and notice an old man clad in green dismounting the chocobo. He scramble to the window, flung it open, and yelled, "Old man! Get away from the chocobo! A Chocobo-Eater is on the loose!"

"Huh! Chocobo-Eater? Oh you mean that big thing? Lady Yuna and her Guardians have taken care of it," Maechen replied calmly.

Stunned, Rin was about to run out and check when Tidus flung open the door and swaggered in arrogantly with the Brotherhood slung over his shoulder, displaying an attitude as if what he'd done was the easiest thing on Earth.

Rin was slightly put off with Tidus' behavior, but soon, it dawned on him that Yuna and her Guardians were truly strong, capable of subduing such a large fiend in a short time. _Perhaps Spira does have a hope in Braska's daughter._

"Mr. Rin, where would you like me to leave the chocobo?" asked Maechen.

"Just leave it with me. I'll lead him to the corral," replied Rin.

Suddenly, the chocobo gave a wild shriek and bolted in the opposite direction of the cliff. Rin tried to calm it by shouting or tugging at the reins, but it was no use. Rin lost his grip on the reins and the chocobo fled.

Then, the ground started to rumble slightly.

"Earthquake?" asked Maechen

"No look!" yelled Rin, pointing at the cliff.

Maechen spun around in time to see the Chocobo-Eater climb up the cliff. Once free of the pull of gravity, the fiend opened its immense maw and gave a roar before charging at Rin and Maechen.

Despite the fiend's huge size, it was fast and Rin didn't have a chance to react. The Chocobo-Eater was about to consume him and Maechen when a strange sound was heard, the same sound you'd expect to hear from an Al-Bhed Machina weapon.

When Rin opened his eyes, he noticed that the Chocobo-Eater was just a few feet short of him. But what was more disturbing was that there was a big hole on the fiend's forehead. It was smoking, a clear sign of an energy-based weapon. Its brains were blown out, literally. But what fired the shot?

Rin looked around and noticed a strange black shroud perched on the roof of the Agency, glistening in the sun. Then, as fast and as mysteriously as it appeared, it vanished.

* * *

A/N: We're skipping to the aftermath of the Crusaders' screwed-up operation. The reason? No Pred scenes. Yeah...you might be saying something about the Pred appearing in amidst the chaos of the fight, but I like Crusaders. They make good Blitzers (Kyou, Durren, just to name a few). So I shan't go humiliate them any further than they should be. The scene takes off from Djose Temple, Temple dedicated to lightning and the Aeon Ixion.

Tidus stirred from his state of unconsciousness and groaned. The last thing he'd remembered was charging down the beach to the Sin Spawn with the rest of the Crusaders and butchering dozens of them. Then, Sin launched a powerful beam attack and he knew no more.

Looking around, he could tell that this was a temple of Yevon due to the unusually large number of Yevon Symbols around. He was in a sick ward with other battlefield casualties in other beds around him. Painfully, he clambered out of his bed and out of the ward; taking extra care not to arouse any other patients from their slumber.

Upon entering the main hall, he saw Yuna exiting the Chamber of Trials. Then, another Summoner and his two Guardians entered the hall and exchanged greetings with Yuna and the party. The Summoner, a man in his mid-twenties, had his hazel-brown hair tied in a ponytail and was wearing a suit with various shades of indigo, varying from pale to deep-colored. There were several Symbols of Yevon on him, two on each of his sleeves and another in the center of his shirt. His entire suit was decorated with patterns of various shapes and colors.

One of his Guardians, who was quite obviously several years younger, was wearing a yellow vest and had a steel pauldron (shoulder guard) on his right shoulder. He had black boots accompanied with matching grieves and finished off his attire with steel vambraces (bracers). The other looked just over ten and wore little armor, only his usual loose traveling clothing.

After a while, the Summoner entered the Chamber of Trials. It was then when Yuna caught sight of Tidus. Noticing that he was alright, she heaved a sigh of relief and ran over to greet him.

"That was Issaru, son of Ichiga. He was accompanied by his Guardian brothers Maroda and Pacce. He too is on his pilgrimage to Zanarkand and offers you and the rest of the casualties his condolences and blessings," said Yuna.

"That was nice of him," muttered Tidus as Yuna walked off to attend to the wounded.

"He also said that Summoners are going out on pilgrimages and just vanishing," said Auron once Yuna was out of sight, "We better keep on our toes and be careful."

"Yes Sir," muttered Tidus and gave a mock salute.

However, if either of them had been more observant, they would have noticed a strange metallic shroud perched on one of the immense main pillars of the temple.

* * *

A/N: Bonus sub-scene with the Predator! 

Pacce was feeling restless and could not sleep. He was wandering around the huge temple complex alone. The Chamber of Trials was challenging and when they finally emerged, it was already dark.

Isaru had gone to help Yuna heal the sick and send the dead, while Maroda had gone to help with the clearing of wreckage along the beach and assist with the transportation of medical supplies and other miscellaneous items from Luca and Bevelle, leaving him all by himself.

He entered the main hall and strolled around one of the huge pillars that held the temple up. It was dark and the only light was from the four posts with balls of lightning energy crackling atop them.

All of a sudden, he heard a strange clicking sound coming from atop one of the great beams. He looked up and saw an immense figure that's seemed to be covered in some weird Machina armor. It looked threatening and menacing and was looking straight at him. At him!

Pacce let out a yelp of fright and fled to the residential zone of the temple where he hoped to find an adult to keep him company. Or better still, a bed and a blanket which he could hide under.

* * *

A/N: Now we're skipping to the Moonflow, and guess what? Its Rikku time!

Rikku barely managed to drag her limp body onto the bank of the Moonflow and was lying on her back, gasping for breath. _That meanie, _she thought, _to think that I saved saved his ass once and this is what I get? Where is the justice!_

Then, she heard a weird 'zing' as though blades were being drawn. A flash of steel sparkled in the sunlight just above her head before being thrust down towards her. Thankfully, her head was small and the Predator's wrist blades struck the ground on either side of her head, but not on it.

_Maybe it'll just go away if I pretend to faint,_ she thought. And she did just that. She fainted.

* * *

Dachande had found the human female lying limp on the ground and had attacked her. However, his poor sense of estimation got the better of him and his first attempt failed. He was about to strike at the female a second time when he heard voices and footsteps coming his way. 

This human wasn't related to the prey and he would rather skip an unnecessary kill than reveal himself, so he made a break towards the thick undergrowth nearby and did what he did best: disappearing.


	9. The Rebellion

Disclaimer: I don't own…you know the rest…

* * *

Chapter 7: Rebellion

Rikku felt pain flush through her body as she slowly came to. She felt weak and giddy and her joints ached, but those were sign she was alive, and that was all that counted.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw a blurred figure bending over her. Blurred, but familiar.

Startled, she got up like a bolt of lightning, conveniently giving the figure a head-butt.

"Ow…ow…ow…" yelled the figure as he backed off.

The voice sounded so familiar to Rikku as she balanced herself. Blood now flowed more smoothly through her body, resulting in her vision getting cleared. Now she could finally put a name to the voice. Tidus.

Tidus too looked surprised to see her.

"You…you're Rikku…" he managed to choke out.

"Who were you expecting? The Hulk?" Rikku answered sarcastically.

"You don't look so good…what happened?" asked Tidus.

"You beat me up you meanie," replied Rikku.

"I...er…you mean you were in that thing?" asked Tidus again.

"Duh…" said Rikku.

A voice came from behind Tidus, "Your friend?"

"Yeah. Guys, meet Rikku. She was the one who helped me out when I first came to Spira. She's an Al Bhe-" Tidus stammered. He couldn't reveal Rikku's true identity in front of Wakka.

"Well then…hello Rikku," Wakka greeted. Quite obviously, he didn't hear Tidus clearly.

Rikku, seeing her acceptance by a group of potential Al Bhed haters, went up to Yuna and wanted to ask her something in private. Yuna agreed.

"Ok…secret girls meeting. Boys please wait over there," called Rikku.

Tidus and the others trudged a distance away. He wanted to hear what Rikku had to say. He wanted her to be a fellow guardian, but what if Wakka found out…what if….

Soon, Yuna, Lulu and Rikku approached.

"Rikku wants to be my guardian." Said Yuna.

"That's great!" commented Tidus.

Auron had a hunch. He walked over to Rikku. "Look at me." He ordered.

However, Rikku's eyes remained tightly shut. _Uh-oh _thought Tidus_. He knows_.

"Open your eyes." Auron ordered again.

Reluctantly, Rikku opened her eyes, revealing green pupils with swirls. The clear sign of an Al Bhed.

"As I thought." Muttered Auron again.

Rikku felt terrible. She had confessed to Yuna and Lulu she was an Al Bhed, they didn't seem to mind. Yuna said Tidus and Kimahri also didn't mind. The problem lay with Auron and Wakka. Wakka was a clear cut Al Bhed hater. However, he didn't know how to tell and Al Bhed from a Yenonite. Auron was a different case. They didn't even know his feeling for Al Bhed, but the feared for the worst.

Thoughts of Auron's oversized blade slashing her into bits were clouding Rikku's mind. She kept her fingers crossed and hoped for the best.

Finally, Auron broke the silence, "You sure you want to do this?"

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

"A hundred and ten percent," replied Rikku eagerly.

"If Yuna wills it." said Auron.

"Alright guys, that's settled. Let's move out!" shouted Tidus.

The party made their way up the scenic path of the moonflow to their next stop, the subterranean city of Guadosalam.

* * *

A/N: Guadosalam: the most fucked up place in the entire game. It's cold, wet, damp and…fucked. Amen. 

"Lady Yuna, welcome to Guadosalam," an elderly and well-rounded guado greeted.

"Greetings," replied Yuna.

"Er…no offense brudda, but who the fuck are you?" asked Tidus.

"Oh…where are my manners. I am Tromell (single or double 'l' ?), servant of Lord Seymour." Replied the guado. "He requests your presence at his manor to ask something of great importance."

"Ok…we'll go," said Yuna.

"Thank you Lady Yuna. This way please." Said Tromell as he bowed respectfully and led the way.

Tromell didn't have to lead the way, the party would have found their way there anyhow. Seymour's manor was smack in the middle of Guadosalam and was nearly twice as tall as ordinary residences. It was illuminated with lights and had a big sign saying: 'The Residence of Lord Seymour.'

The party was told to wait in the dining hall while Tromell went to get Seymour. The interior was illuminated by lights hanging from the ceiling on bronze chains. The floor was lined with polished marble tiles and the walls were decorated with pictures by famous guado artists. Expensive pottery lavishly decorated with precious gems were place on equally well decorated bronze stands. On the large cherry wood table lay a spread of delicacies from every corner of Spira. In the middle of the table was the most beautiful flower arrangement Yuna had seen, boasting many rare and exotic flowers. Seymour was bloody rich, that was for sure.

The heavy oaken doors to the room suddenly creaked open and the lord of the guado entered with all the vigor of a leader.

"Lady Yuna. Welcome to Guadosalam." Said Seymour, his booming voice echoing throughout the room. "Forgive my insistence of stopping you pilgrimage, but I have something of grave importance to tell you. If you would, come with me."

Yuna and Seymour proceeded to the back of the room. Seymour whispered something into Yuna's ear. Almost immediately, she flushed a shade of bright red and dashed back to the company of her guardians.

"What did'e say?" asked Rikku.

Yuna didn't answer and a silence fell over the party.

"He said…he said he wanted to marry me…." stammered Yuna.

"That's absurd!" yelled Tidus.

"Totally crazy!" added Rikku.

"I…I think I'll have a word with my father." muttered Yuna. "Lord Seymour, which way to the farplane?"

"Exit the mansion and take a first left. Then proceed three blocks and turn right at Jyscal Boulevard. Then you should see a sign that says "Farplane" follow it and you'll be there."

* * *

A/N: About three to four hours after that. 

Tidus was pissed. Very pissed. He knew women and from the looks of it, Yuna was gonna marry that good for nothing gayhole Seymour. He heard Lulu muttering something about "married in the name of Yevon…bring happiness to the people" blah blah… Like he cared. Screw Yevon, screw the people. The faster Sin was sent six-feet-under the better, don't have to waste time on some stupid wedding. I mean…did Yuna even love Seymour? Or was he just jealous. His emotions swirled round and round within him, threatening to explode in any moment.

But there was nothing he could do about it. Like Issaru said, "Not much of a future for a guardian without a summoner".

He needed to get his mind off this mess. He strolled through the streets of Guadosalam, receiving the utmost respect from the guado as he was Yuna's guardian. He kicked a stone that was lying on the road and watched it skip towards a shop. A weapons shop. Just the right thing to take his mind off this. Shopping.

He entered the shop and was greeted by the owner who directed him to the longsword department. There weren't many people it the shop and Tidus managed to get the full attention of the shopkeeper.

He tried out all the swords, but none caught his eye. They were all too light, too heavy, too long or too short. Anyway, he was just window shopping, he had no intention of replacing the Brotherhood.

Then he noticed a rusted sword on a rack hanging on the wall. Under the sword was a brass plate that had several inscriptions in guado.

"What's that sword?" asked Tidus, "And what does the brass plate say?"

"There's a story to that sword, also a prophecy. If you have time, would you like me to tell it to you?" said the shopkeeper.

"Sure…go ahead," replied Tidus.

"You know the previous high summoner Lady Yocun? Shortly after she defeated Sin, about fifty years ago, her guardian, on her way back to Luca, passed by here. She was so grieved about her summoner's death that she committed suicide in her inn room. She stabbed herself with this sword and her blood covered it. We were never able to wash the blood off. My father bought the sword within hours as a memento to the guardian. However, it rusted overnight and no amount of oil or sandpaper could remove the rust."

The shopkeeper continued, "The guardian also left a note with a prophecy, 'When a guardian takes hold of this sword and the rust shatters for eternity, that guardian will bring the Eternal Calm'. Countless guardians took hold of the sword, the rust didn't even crack. No one believes the prophecy now."

"So the prophecy is on the brass plate?" asked Tidus. The shopkeeper nodded.

"Then lemme give it a shot, I'm a guardian too you know," said Tidus.

(Warning: Blatant He-Man rip-off)

The shopkeeper stood on a small ladder and carefully brought the sword down. He then respect fully handed it to Tidus. Tidus grasped the handle with his left hand and waited for a few moments.

Nothing.

"Guess it's not me," said Tidus as he shrugged and was about to return the sword when there was a crack.

Not a very loud crack, but loud enough to be heard by several other customers. They rushed over out of curiosity and were rewarded with a spectacular sight.

Starting form the sword-guard, a jagged blue line appeared and made its way across the blade. Soon, other lines appeared and more cracking was heard. The sword was now covered with jagged lines that shone out bright blue light.

Then it happened. A small piece of rust fell off and descended to the ground. All who were present gasped. Soon another piece fell, and another, till the whole sword was clear of rust.

Tidus stared in shock and awe of what happened. The sword had a long, relatively averaged-width blade. Judging from the length of the handle, it was a two-hander, but it was so beautifully crafted that he had confidence he could wield it one-handed. The guard was a series of metal bones arranged to look like someone's rib-cage. Embedded in the center was a menacing skull design. Inscribed on the blade was a word in some weird writing. (Sorry guys…no "I am the power!" I felt if I put it in Tidus will become a mindless muscle head like He-man)

The sword was strangely familiar. Almost too familiar. Tidus felt that he had wielded it before, but where, and more importantly, when?

Some customers, recovering slightly from their shock, cheered, while other bowed to Tidus and did the prayer.

"I like this sword. How much for it?" asked Tidus.

"The sword is rightfully yours. Take it," replied the shopkeeper.

"Do you have an Al Bhed to English dictionary?" asked Tidus.

"Why yes…give me a moment," said the shopkeeper as he scurried off to look for it. He returned soon after and handed the book to Tidus.

Tidus skimmed through the book and slammed it shut after a while.

"As I thought. The sword's name is the 'Rebellion'."

* * *

Tidus trained his double sword fighting skills through the night and had gotten the hang of it by morning. Satisfied, he proceeded to the courtyard in Seymour's mansion where the party was waiting. 

"You're late," said Rikku

"Sorry…" muttered Tidus.

"Groovy sword. Where'd ya get it?" asked Wakka.

"From the shop," replied Tidus. He had no intention of telling them about the prophecy. He didn't even believe it himself to start of with.

"This is…the Rebellion, no?" questioned Auron.

"Huh! You know its name!" said Tidus.

"Jecht told me…oh nothing," replied Auron.

"What did my old man say?" yelled Tidus as he grabbed Auron by the collar.

"Lean in your own understanding. Don't count on others. This is your story, not theirs," Auron said calmly as he pushed Tidus' hands away. "Let's go. Time's a' wasting."

* * *

A/N: I always wondered why Seymour left Guadosalam for Macalania before the party. Since I play god here, I can explain why. And you were thinking 'why no predator?' Well ladies and gentlemen, here he is. 

Bonus Scene with the Predator!

Seymour was all tucked in under the richly adorned quilts on his over-sized kings-bed. He was sucking his right thumb and in his left hand, he cradle a small brown teddy bear. Tromell was sitting next to him reading bedtime stories from 'Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes for little children and guado' (so much for a maester…)

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Lord Seymour, if you'll excuse me," said Tromell as he rose to answer it.

"ButI want to know the end of the story!" whined Seymour.

"I'll make it quick," replied Tromell.

Tromell and the guado guardian at the door had a short conversation before Tromell turned around and reported back to Seymour.

"Lord Seymour. I have disturbing news that one of Lady Yuna's guardians had managed to shatter the seal on the Rebellion," he reported.

"That's good isn't it," replied Seymour.

(Warning: Spoiler imminent)

"No it's not! We want to use Yuna to create you into Sin to destroy Spira!" retorted Tromell.

"But I don't wanna be that big thing in the sky!" fussed Seymour.

"You have to for Spira's good," said Tromell.

"Oh ok…" Seymour finally relented.

"However, even more disturbing is that the two guardians guarding the door were decapitated and beheaded. Their headless bodies are hanging from a nearby lamppost!" said Tromell.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Seymour screamed as he hid under the covers.

"Lord Seymour, you have to go and see it to address the people and send the guardians," said Tromell.

"I'm scared! I'm scared!" whined Seymour. Then, he had a brainwave.

"I know, Pooky will protect me won't you?" he asked his teddy bear. "I knew you'd say yes."

The scene was worse than Seymour ever imagined. The entire road was covered in blood. The guardians weren't just decapitated, they were gutted too. Their organs were flung in random directions, leaving sickening swirls of blood. They hung upside down from the lamppost, creating gentle spirals of blood from their open, gaping wounds. Although only two guado had died, the entire street stank of death. This was the work of no ordinary murderer, this was the work of a sadistic psychopath (guess who…).

Seymour put on a brave face and tried his best to contain his fear. He sent the two guardians and got some people to clean up the street. He then retired to his manor.

However, once inside, he scurried up to his room and hid under his blanket, tightly hugged Pooky and started to sob and scream. When Tromell came in to check on him, he ordered, "Tromell, get the guys to pack my bags and my toys. I'm going to Macalania Temple to hide!"


	10. Ultra Ronso

Disclaimer: Screw this. I can't be bothered.

A/N: We'll be skipping straight to the Thunder Plains. And Kimhari will get a certain boost to his abilities. Just wait and see!

A/N 2: Auron has been nicknamed "Old Painless" by the others since he seems damn near impervious to pain.

* * *

Chapter 8: Ultra Ronso

A huge thunderclap sounded just as a lightning bolt split the sky apart and struck a nearby lightning tower. An extremely shrill scream followed. Tidus, who had the misfortune of being the closest to Rikku, covered his ears.

"Please! I'm too young to die! Let's go back! Please! I don't wanna go!" Tidus' eyebrows were so close together you would think he had only one. Rikku's constant whining were starting to grate his nerves, and they were wearing thin. "I'm gonna kill somebody if she doesn't stop screaming soon! That noise is gonna break my ears." Tidus complained to Wakka, who was standing in front of him. "Seriously! They're ringing!" he continued. "Nag, nag, nag! What about me? I've gotta listen to the constant screaming _and _your constant complaining." Wakka snapped back.

Slowly but surely, Rikku started to lag behind the group, going further with each thunderclap. Soon enough, the party was out of sight, but Rikku hardly noticed. Sheseemed to stop worrying that much about the thunder. The only thing that was going through her head was the verse from the "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner". The verse that Brotheralways read to her at night to freak her out.

"Like one, that on a lonesome road  
Doth walk in fear and dread.  
And having once turned round walks on,  
And turns no more his head;  
Because he knows, a frightful fiend  
Doth close behind him tread."

Calming herself down, she looked around her. All she saw were thunder, lightning, fear, and that big black faceless thing standing to her right... wait a minute. Faceless? "Oh crap." That was the fiend.

Rikku was in deep shoopuf shit. With the party so far ahead, no one could possibly help her now. By the time they got to her, she would be a corpse.

The creature lunged forward, and Rikku braced herself as the blades that jutted out from its wrist ran her through.

* * *

"Something's not right. It's too quiet." Auron muttered. "Quiet? You call this quiet?" Tidus' statement was punctuated by a deafening thunderclap. "I haven't heard any screams in the past five minutes." Auron replied. "Good point. Hey, where's Rikku?" Tidus looked around. A scream answered his question. "Oh no." Yuna said. Rushing back the way they came, they noticed a fallen Rikku, with blood pouring out of two stab wounds in her abdomen, and a huge creature standing over her. 

Tidus took one look at its mask and knew that it was the very same creature that had him hanging for his life ten stories above the streets of Luca. The beast raised its blades to strike, but twin red and blue blurs rushed forward, warding off its blow. The creature turned its head in surprise to the spear and katana that had pushed its wristblades off target, and Auron slashed his katana at it.

The giant caught it with two fingers and repelled it easily, throwing Auron off balance as the blade was forced away. The creature disappeared into the distance. Tidus knelt down beside Rikku, feeling her neck for a pulse. It was there, albeit very weak and rapid. "Yuna, patch up those stab wounds. I'll have to carry her to the agency, but I can't unless those wounds are healed." Yuna nodded and channeled healing energy into Rikku's wounds. They closed in on themselves, stopping any further blood loss.

Rikku's visage was extremely pale, a sure sign of a high loss of blood. She felt like a dead weight on Tidus' back as the party trudged towards the Travel Agency. Auron opened the door for Tidus, and they booked five rooms, heading for Yuna's room first, Tidus dumped Rikku onto the couch, and rechecked her pulse. It was still there, but weaker than ever. The poor girl looked like a corpse.

"Yuna, cast as much healing magic as you can. None of us here wants her to die, and if we don't something soon, she will." Tidus instructed. Yuna paled at the thought of losing her cousin, but nodded and cast Cura several times. When she ran out of mana, Tidus gave her an ether, which she quickly used to replenish her mana, and continued casting. A few minutes later, Rikku's paleness faded, and her shallow, rapid breathing slowed down. Tidus checked her pulse. Strong and steady.

He announced this to the rest and they all breathed a sigh of relief. Yuna covered Rikku with a blanket. Suddenly, Rikku sat bolt upright and screamed, but calmed down when she realized she was in the agency. Collapsing back onto the couch, she asked groggily "What happened?"

"We heard a scream and just found you there lying unconscious. A fiend was attacking. We drove it off, and I carried you back to the Agency." Tidus lied about the fiend part. Everyone departed to their respective rooms, and Yuna asked Rikku if she could have some privacy. Rikku left the room, and Yuna took out the sphere she had recovered from Jyscal's spirit. Pressing the 'Play' button, the sphere began playing its dark message.

* * *

Tidus crept down the corridor, just outside Yuna's room, when he heard an unknown voice coming from inside. Strange, because Rikku was outside and Yuna was the only one in her room. Straining his ears to hear better, he leaned forward, only to stumble through the door and roll into the room. Picking himself up, he noticed that Yuna was in the middle of changing, wearing only her erhem... inner clothing, and was listening to a sphere at the same time. 

For now, he was too distracted by erhem...Yuna that he didn't pay that much attention to the sphere. Yuna screamed.

Everyone immediately rushed over to Yuna's room. Tidus was dragged out by the ears by Lulu and Wakka. The moment Auron and Kimhari saw Yuna, they spun around and muttered, "I didn't see a thing." Rikku, of course, was waiting at the reception area. When Tidus came out with two red ears, she asked what happened. "Something you don't wanna know." he replied.

* * *

Dachande was standing on top of one of the lightning rod towers, and suddenly a shrill scream threw him off-balance. Just so happened that a lightning bolt struck the tower as he tried to regain his balance, and he fell off the tower, landing unceremoniously on the ground. Picking himself up and dusting himself off, he wondered what the hell had caused that scream.

* * *

It was midnight. Footsteps. In the basement. Yuna and Rikku's ears perked up. Slowly rising from their beds, they nodded to each other and each grabbed their respective weapons. Slowly creeping down to the basement, they failed to notice the optical distortion that had disappeared around the corner. As they came round the corner, a dark shape stumbled upon both of them. 

The two screamed like banshees, and Ifrit came crashing through the roof, leaving an enormous hole in the ceiling. Peeking at the figure that Ifrit had landed on, she noticed a blond head sticking out from below Ifrit's ass, lying facedown on the floor. "Oh my god! Tidus!" Yuna quickly dismissed Ifrit and rolled the crushed blitzer over. 'Tidus! Are you all right?" Yuna asked. "Just dandy." he replied. He had taken worse damage than this before. Having cleared up the matter and assuring the agency owner that they'll pay for the damages casued, everyone went back to bed.

* * *

Kimhari had been standing watch outside when he felt something brush against him. He turned, but saw nothing. When he turned back, he noticed a large creature in front of him. The same one that had attacked Rikku. "You." Kimhari said no more and charged forward, lance at the ready. The creature drew a small rod from its belt and extended into a wicked-looking spear of absurd proportions. The spear was almost as tall as the creature itself. Kimhari took no note of this and thrust his lance forward. 

The creature moved extremely fast for something of its size, but then Kimhari could say about the same for himself, so who was he to talk? The beast blocked his thrust easily, and countered with a sideways swing that caught Kimhari in the ribs and sent him reeling. Putting himself into a sideways roll to quickly regain his balance, he found the giant upon him again. This time though, he was prepared. As the creature brought the spear down, Kimhari horizontally blocked, and, using all his might, pushed it away. His assailant stumbled backwards, off-balance, and Kimhari took full advantage of the turned tables by rushing forward and extending his spear as far as his arms could stretch.

But the Predator had one more trick up its sleeve. It spun to its left, barely dodging the lance tip, and thrust its right hand forward. Kimhari was halted in his tracks. Looking down, he saw that the creature had embedded two blades extending from its wrist into his abdomen. It flexed its arm, and Kimhari roared in agony as the blades shifted.

The Predator tossed the Ronso aside and prepared to finish it off. Kimhari staggered to one knee and stared at it through red-hazed vision. Beads of perspiration trickled down his body, mingling with the raindrops from the rain that continually poured in the Thunder Plains. "I need a breather. Wait, if this is a fiend, I can just Lancet it!" Kimhari muttered the incantation for Lancet, and the yellow bolts of magic containing the absorbed life force exploded from the creature and were sucked in by Kimhari.

* * *

Dachande gazed at his energy meter curiously. He felt as though he had been slightly wounded, and his energy had mysteriously been depleted. His prey had somehow drained his life and energy for itself. Its wounds were healing rapidly, and he saw that its blood was turning luminous. It hurled its crude spear at him, and he deftly sidestepped the throw.

* * *

As the energy flowed into Kimhari, he felt renewed. Not the slight renewal that he usually felt when he absorbed HP, but a massive renewal. It was as though he was himself again! No, wait. More than himself. Kimhari gazed at his wounds, which were rapidly healing. He felt much stronger than before. He hurled his spear at the creature, and it quickly sidestepped it. The spear embedded itself in a cactuar stone, which began vibrating rapidly. 

A lightning bolt struck the stone, and it shattered, revealing the long-hidden lance inside it. Kimhari leapt towards the lance and took hold of it. It felt perfect in his hands. It was almost as if this weapon had been made specifically for him (Yup, its the Spirit lance). Kimhari swung the lance at the creature with surprising speed and grace, and it easily blocked it. Kimhari swung his lance again with more strength, and it seemed to have difficulty in successfully blocking the swing.

The both started exchanging blows, landing an almost equal number of hits and blocks. Kimhari had managed to knock its mask out of alignment, and while it was blinded, he thrust his spear and attempted to run creature through, only to have his lance tip bounce off the metal mesh that it was wearing. With a shake of its head, the mask was back in alignment. It responded with a violent thrust of its own, which Kimhari swatted away with a sideway swing, leaving the creature's arms wide open and vulnerable to attack.

Dachande though, had another trick up his sleeve. Dipping his left hand to his utility belt, he drew his plasma pistol. Unlike his plasmacaster, which relied on his main energy supply, his plasma pistol ran on its own power supply, which had to be recharged onlywhen it ran out of power. It's plasma projectiles were much more powerful than those of his shoulder cannon. One blast was sufficient to completely vaporize a man. It was essentially a hand-held cannon.

Kimhari dove to the side as the searing plasma blast tore through the space he had vacated a few milliseconds ago. Sensing another blast coming, he threw himself aside as another plasma bolt incinerated the ground he had just rolled away from. Nimbly leaping to his feet, he found that the thing was already running away.

It was almost as if it had sensed it had met its match and was fleeing. "Coward!" Kimhari shouted after it before slumping to the ground, exhausted.

Limping back to the agency using his new lance as a crude walking stick, Kimhari found Tidus standing at the door. "Hey, Kimhari! What the hell happened to you?" Tidus asked. "Chased Iron Giant. Found new spear." Kimhari replied before entering the Agency. Tidus knew something was up, but he didn't know what. "You know what, pal? You're a bad liar," he muttered to himself before returning to the agency.

* * *

Enhanced speed strength and healing aren't all of Kimhari's abilities, you know. There are still more to come! Next chapter, Macalania Temple and that gayhole Seymour! In the meantime, just send a review and you'll get freeplasma grenades! 

This is the Chief, signing out!


	11. Seymour

Disclaimer: I don't own anything…so sue me…

* * *

Chapter 9: Seymour

Auron looked around the thick canopies and undergrowth of Macalania Forest, his small, beady eyes like miniature cameras, capturing everything he saw. When they said this forest was timeless, they meant it. The woods hadn't changed one bit since he passed here ten years ago with Braska and Jecht.

The woods were silent, except from the noise from the party, but if one listened hard enough, he could here the wild cacophony of fiends and other forest dwellers. The party was having a short break and Auron decided to take some time to himself and took an overgrown forest path to a small clearing way off the beaten track.

Using his oversized No-Dachi (Japanese great sword), he cleared most of the vegetation in the way any reached the clearing in several minutes. In the middle of the clearing was a small shrine. A shrine dedicated to a fellow colleague and a best friend. A shrine dedicated to Jecht. He had built this shrine himself and within rested a sphere, a Jecht Sphere. One of many that were scattered throughout Spira for Tidus to find. But he kept this one here for Tidus to get a head-start.

Opening the small doors of the shrine, he bent down and reached in to obtain the sphere. Then, a strange rustle in the bushes caught Auron's attention. Straightening up, he shoved his hefty blade onto his shoulder and got into a fighting stance, ready to confront whatever was hiding in the thick undergrowth.

"Come on out, old painless is waiting," he muttered to himself.

Then, the light pounding of footsteps echoed throughout the clearing. The footsteps were firm, yet at a fast pace. Whatever is was, it was strong, agile and charging. Auron braced himself, the creature was coming closer. Then, it sprang out of the bushes in a frenzied blur, squeaking and squealing wildly. Auron gave a war cry and was about to bring down his blade to deliver the first deadly slash when he realized what the creature was……a wild chocobo.

He stood there sighing and reflecting on how he'd made an absolute fool out of himself as the chocobo disappeared. Then, he sensed the presence of another, more powerful creature nearby. Spinning around, he made eye contact with Dachande who was perched on a sturdy branch of one of the ancient Macalanian hardwoods.

* * *

Dachande leaped off the branch and confronted the human. He was powerfully built and wore a bright crimson cloak, possibly to hide his blood in order not to show signs of weakness. He was missing his left eye and a livid white scar ran down his cheek, starting from his eye and fading off around the center of his cheek, a lesson from a previous encounter that no doubt made him stronger. 

Then, without warning, the human, lunged forth. Dachande was stunned at his speed and had to summon all his agility to dodge the blow. Yet, heavy and bulky as the great sword was, the human was quick to recover from his strike and lunged for another attack. However, Dachande was prepared this time and brought up his spear to parry the blow.

To Dachande's utter horror, his spear had an immense dent on it. How could a blade made of a simple primitive element (as in iron, Fe. on the periodic table) dent his own reinforced-alloy spear and not suffer any damage itself?

Unrelenting, the human delivered several more punishing blows which would have taken out a Predator of lesser skill. He was fully aware that this human was his equal in close-combat, perhaps his superior. He had to live to take down the prey and could not die fighting a side event.

Desperate, he parried one more blow and back-flipped to the other side of the clearing. The human uttered several curses in human tongue before charging at him again. Normally, he would not do such a dishonorable act, but now, he was desperate. With the flick of a switch, he charged his Plasmacaster, and fired.

* * *

The party was about to set off when Wakka noticed that Auron was missing. Rikku, hyper-active after getting out of the Thunder Plains, volunteered to look for him, but Yuna, untrusting of he newest Guardian, asked Tidus to follow. He obeyed, but grudgingly. 

They retraced Auron's footsteps, not hard, as they only had to follow the trail of destroyed vegetation, until they came to the clearing. They reached just in time to see the white-blue plasma bolt hit Auron's chest and see it explode in a wild shower of blood.

Tidus felt rage building up in him. His blood was boiling and his face displayed an expression that was contorted with anger. He was downright pissed. Auron was the only family that he had until Spira and the party, and that thing there was going to pay dearly (No! They are not gay!).

Drawing the Brotherhood on his right hand and the Rebellion on his left, he charged forth, eager to chop the Predator into confetti. However, a sound made him stop in his tracks. It was the sound of an Al-Bhed Machina weapon charging up. A "mini-gun" to be exact. He had seen Rikku use it before to decimate fiends, and he knew better than to stand in its way.

He gave a surprised yelp and dove for cover as Rikku gave a loud yell that could be heard echoing throughout the woods.

"MOTHER FUCKER!" she yelled as she let loose dozens of rounds of lead in random directions in blind rage, annihilating everything in her path.

After several minutes, or what seemed like eternity to Tidus, the firing died down. She had either: a) regained her senses, or, b) run out of lead. He looked up and saw her eyes blank, and finger still squeezing the trigger. _Yup, definitely option b_.

As he surveyed the devastated landscape littered with broken branches and trunks with bullet holes in them, he noticed pyreflies dancing around Auron.

"Rikku! Snap out of it and give me a hand!" he yelled as he positioned himself to lift Auron up.

Rikku finally snapped out of it and dropped the gun. She ran over and they were about to lift him up when the gaping hole in Auron's chest started to close up in a swarm of pyreflies. To their amazement, and perhaps horror, Auron opened his eyes and wobbled to his feet.

"Auron, you mean you're…" Tidus managed to stammer, visuably stunned.

"Yup, I'm dead. Trust me, being dead has its advantages," replied Auron.

Rikku stood, gazing at Auron, transfixed, until Tidus shook her. Immediately she let out a high-pitched scream and cowered away from Auron. She was afraid of unsents. They said they could transform into fiends at will.

However, as if he read her mind, Auron assured her, "Relax, I won't transform into a fiend until I need to. Now don't tell this to Yuna or the others or else." He gave them a menacing glare that bored into the back of Rikku's head.

"Yes Sir!"

* * *

A/N: We're skipping forth to the Crawler scene and the events after that. If you have built in Seymour-detecting-radars, they should be pinging like nuts. Yup, you guessed it, Spira's greatest asshole is about to make another appearance. 

Up against the Crawler's immense firepower and thick armor, the party seemed doomed and Yuna would be kidnapped and dragged to some dark castle on a hill and locked in a damp dungeon to await being treated as a lab-rat by some bespectacled Al-Bhed scientist in a dirty lab-coat and cold rubber gloves(remember, they don't know why the Al-Bhed are kidnapping Summoners, so this is the most logical speculation).

However, their luck changed when Tidus stumbled on a cache of armor-piecing, highly explosive rockets and a launcher half-buried in the snow, perhaps discarded or forgotten by the Al-Bhed soldiers.

"Christmas sure comes early in these parts," he muttered as he twisted a shell onto the barrel and pulled the trigger.

The projectile streaked towards the Crawler and pierced the armor like a red-hot knife through butter with a weird 'splut'.

The Crawler stopped moving and screams of twisted agony were heard coming from its hold (or bridge?) before an explosion. Unrelenting, Tidus twisted another shell on and fired again, this time aiming for the fuel tanks.

Jackpot. The Machina blew up in a brilliant display of fireworks. Pieces of debris, and pieces of the unfortunate crew, flew sky-high and crashed back down onto the snow-covered ground, spraying snow all over and making deep craters.

All that was left of the mighty, lumbering titan was just several hunks of unrecognizable parts and a fury of crimson flames devilishly licking the sky and emitting black smoke.

"Ah, the wonders of technology," muttered Tidus as he discarded the rocket launcher and joined up with the rest of the party.

Yuna had already left for the safety of the temple with Tromel while the rest of the party remained to act as the rear-guard.

"Al-Bhed! What the fuck do they want Yuna for!" asked Wakka angrily as he kicked the snow and started to mutilate the already unrecognizable body of the Al-Bhed soldier.

"Well, maybe they-" Rikku was about to start when she was cut off.

(A/N: Al-Bhed primers provided free of charge by Master and Chief Productions Inc.)

"**_Rikku!" _**a voice called from beyond the snow dune, "**_Fryd yna tuehk rvnv_**! (What are you doing here!)"

Stunned, Rikku spun about and saw a muscular Al-Bhed with tattoos of blue flames tattooed onto his arms and torso. His blonde hair was done into a Mohawk and he wore a pair of dirty, grease-stained blue leather overalls. His hands gripped firmly on an automatic rifle (This, my friends, is Brother).

Behind him stood, quite obviously, his subordinate, who was shorter and less heavy-built. He wore a blue shirt which matched his pants. He had a pair of shades covering his eyes and had a sniper-rifle aimed menacingly at the party (This, my friends, is Buddy).

"**_Oui tuh'd ryje du funno ypuid Yuna, E's ran Guardian_**, (You don't have to worry about Yuna, I'm her Guardian,)" replied Rikku.

"**_Frah Vydran raync ypuid drec, oui'mm pa eh vun ed_**, (When Father hears about this, you'll be in for it,)" said the Al-Bhed.

"**_Zicd vilg uvv yht kad uiddy raha,_** (Just fuck off and get outta here,)" replied Rikku.

The two Al-Bhed retreated off the dune and the revving of speeder engines was heard. Soon, others joined in and the Al-Bhed strike force beat a hasty retreat, kicking up clouds of snow behind them.

"Heh heh, I told him I was Yuna's Guardian and he retreated with his men," Rikku addressed the party, grinning sheepishly.

"Who was he? And how'd you learn to speak Al-Bhed!" roared Wakka.

"Well, I'm Al-Bhed too, and he, he is my brother," replied Rikku in a silenced tone.

"What the heck!" Wakka yelled again, "I can't believe I've been hanging out with a heathen all this while. And you guys didn't even tell me!"

"Wakka…" Lulu started, but was cut off by Rikku.

"Why are we the heathens? What did we do wrong?" asked Rikku in an agitated tone.

"You guys messed up with Machina, that's why Sin's here!" replied Wakka.

"And what proof do you have?" said Rikku.

"Its all in Yevon's Scriptures," said Wakka.

"It's always Yevon this, Yevon that, can't you think for yourself?" asked Rikku.

"Why am I wasting time with a heathen anyway?" said Wakka, "Sir Auron?" he asked, hoping to find support.

"Can we used these speeders to get to the temple?' he asked.

"Sure, gimme a second," replied Rikku.

"What! Don't tell me Sir Auron's an Al-Bhed too," Wakka gave a cry of outrage, "I'm not touching any of those, I'll walk!"

The Party watched Wakka walk off into the distance, then they set to work readying the Speeders for the journey to Macalania Temple.

* * *

A/N: The Seymour fight in Macalania temple…one of the easiest fights in the ENTIRE FF-X series. If you people have guns or stuff like that, you can start aiming now. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, Seymour. (Ducks for cover just in time to dodge oncoming bullets and Plasma Grenades) 

Wakka always hated Mondays. Since he was a kid, waking up early after the weekend to go to school and face a black-faced teacher; Waking up even earlier for Blitzball training; Waking up to prepare Yuna's breakfast, get her changed and send her to school… He'd gotten used to it by now, but this Monday was different.

On the stroke of midnight, he awoke, only to find his blanket missing and started to sneeze and wheeze. Groping around in the darkness for some flu tablets, he stumbled upon some jawbreakers. Feeling hungry, he ate them as his midnight snack. However, in the morning, he realized his marble collection was missing (Yes, he ate them…).

Also, he'd overslept and was forced to use the bathroom after Kimahri. Not only did Kimahri spend nearly an eternity in there, he also used all the foot powder and left cat-hairs all over the place.

Thinking he got the Monday blues again, he wasn't surprised when Yuna ate his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Neither was he when he discovered that Auron drank all the coffee.

He was expecting his Monday blues to continue. They did.

First, the party was attacked by Al-Bhed, then he discovered that his fellow Guardian, Rikku, was also an Al-Bhed. Auron had intended to use the abandoned Al-Bhed speeders to get to the temple but he refused, choosing to walk instead. However, he got lost and was forced to hitch a ride from Tidus.

But now, this Monday really took a turn for the worst. Here he was, outside the Chamber of the Fayth, clutching his Blitzball and watching his fellow Guardians take battle with a Maester of Yevon.

Well, not exactly the Maester himself, more his Aeon and his, umm…, teddy bear. Seymour was hiding behind a chair while Anima was doing all the work.

Then, he noticed a Fira spell flying his way and he dodge-rolled away just in time. Then, Seymour threw his teddy bear, Pooky, at Wakka, scoring a bull's-eye. Seymour then pulled the jump-rope tied around Pooky's waist and pulled him back to safety.

"Take that you rotten thing!" Seymour yelled childishly as he shook Pooky around.

The party was having trouble dealing with Anima and its incredible magical attacks.She also had thick hide which protected her from damage. Desperate, Yuna summoned her hew Aeon Shiva, the ice goddess, to assist them.

Shiva dodged several of Anima's Fira attacks before raining several blade-sharp icicles into Anima. Anima roared in pain, but quickly recovered and blasted a 'pain' attack at Shiva. Unable to dodge, Shiva braced herself for the attack. It took off quite a huge chunk of vitality, but thankfully, Shiva was unaffected but it 'death' side effect.

Casting Blizzara on herself, restoring lost vitality, Shiva sprang back into the fray, readying another icicle attack to bombard Anima. Anima too didn't slacken and charged for a Fira attack.

Then, both stopped.

* * *

Seymour was confused. One moment, Shiva was about to hit Anima with another attack. Then, she stopped dead in her tracks. He wanted Anima to take full use of the chance to hit Shiva, but, strangely, Anima was also, like Shiva, looking at him, or rather, something behind him. 

He glanced at the party. They were also staring at the same thing. Then, Yuna finally broke the silence, "Lord Seymour! Look behind you!"

"No way! They've pulled this trick on me too many times! If I turn around, some big kid will come and wedgie me!" yelled Seymour as he folded his arms and pouted.

"Seriously Lord Seymour! Look behind you!" yelled Lulu.

"I said it once and I'll say it again! No way!" replied Seymour as he continued to pout.

"Ok Seymour, turn around and," Auron produced a lollipop from one of his pockets "you'll get this."

"Yay! Lollipop! I love lollipops," said Seymour as his eyes brightened and he turned around.

What greeted him were two metallic blades, which rushed into his stomach, and a big bad wolf. Or rather, it looked like the wolf from the "Three Little Pigs".

Seymour was stunned. He started to cry and yelled, "Mommy! Help me!" before collapsing on the ground and closing his eyes. Forever.

Tidus instantly recognized that monster, as did Rikku and Auron. Tidus and Auron were both about to lunge forth when a scream stopped them. It was Rikku's scream. She drew out her mini gun and a sub machinegun-pistol and, still screaming, sprayed lead everywhere.

The plaster on the richly decorated walls of the chamber was chipped off by the bullets and a thick dust cloud rose.

She finally stopped firing and the cloud subsided, but the monster was long gone.

* * *

Yuna opened her eyes and her vision slowly became focused. She looked around, relived to see all her Guardians were well. Kimahri, as protective as ever, stood next to her while she could see Rikku, Wakka and Lulu in the distance. The two Guardians she didn't see were Tidus and Auron. But she could hear their voices and knew they were ok. 

With the help of Kimahri, she got up and rubbed her head, trying to remember what happened and where they were exactly. She'd remembered being chased by Guado guardians all the way out here, but a small metallic device rolled under their feet and detonated, decimating them in seconds. However, the blast's impact caused the ice to crack and they fell into the dark abyss below.

Curious, she questioned Rikku about the device, quite obviously a Machina weapon, but Rikku denied any knowledge of it, saying that it would take ten of her 'grenades' to achieve the damage of that single weapon.

Tidus and Auron approached and reported that there seemed to be a way out, but they would have to climb, or summon Valefore if they wanted to slack. Yuna sighed and thanked them for their effort. She then told her Guardians to get some rest and get a campfire going.

She was about the get off the block of stone she was lying on when she heard a weird sound. The party looked around in shock; quite obviously they heard it too. Then, as the sound continued, the ground began to shake. Violently.

She yelled, "What the fuck is going on!"

Tidus yelled something inaudible and pointed into the distance. She followed his finger and saw an immense shadow approaching in the distance. The black blur slowly began to take the shape of something, huge. No, not huge, massive. Then, Yuna recognized its call. She heard it on the S.S. Liki, off the coast of Kilika. It was Sin.

She let out a scream as the giant opened its colossal jaws and called again. Then, she felt herself being pulled towards Sin. She started crying and gripped the piece of debris more tightly, but she lost her grip and was pulled towards the fiend. The last thing she remembered was screaming and catching sight of Tidus reaching for her. Then, she knew no more.

* * *

A/N: So, how'd you like it? All your old favourites, or hates, back with a brand new ninth chapter. So to all you out there, know this: The Master and Chief are back baby! And there's nothing you can do about it! Nothing much actually... Thought you like to know, the deal of free Plasma Grenades for every review is still on, so hurry! Press that button! Your teacher might think twice about giving you homework! 

This is the Master, signing out.


	12. The Defense Of Home

Disclaimer: I don't own shit.

A/N: For those who play Devil May Cry 3, you will know the moves that Tidus pulls off in this chapter. If you don't, then the description will come in the appendix after the last chapter.

* * *

Chapter 10: The Defense of Home

Tidus' world slowly changed from black to blue. "Strange…" he thought. "Since when was the ground colored blue?" Then he realized he wasn't staring into the ground. He was staring at the sky.

A blinding light made him shut his eyes. "What the…" he tried to pick himself up, but he seemed to be floating. Forcing himself into a somewhat upright position, he found that he was floating in an oasis. The blinding light he saw just now was the sun.

Quickly paddling towards the shore, he pulled himself up the bank and collapsed onto his rump. He noticed the Rebellion and Brotherhood lying nearby, so he quickly grabbed them and stuffed them back into their sheaths on his back.

Forcing himself back onto his feet, Tidus began the long and tedious trek through the desert Sin had dumped him into.

No sooner than having covered about half a kilometer, Tidus was thrown off his feet by a huge gust of wind. With a startled cry, he looked up and was rewarded with the sight of an extremely hairy Garuda (that, my friends, is a Zu).

Tidus grinned. He could handle one hairy Garuda by himself. He leapt upwards as the fiend descended, intent on having the blitzer as a midday snack.

Tidus immediately leapt into the air and unleashed his newly learned Sky Dance combo on the fiend. He curled into a ball and spun horizontally (like a super-sonic spin), every slash striking it dead on in its gaping maw. The Zu pulled backwards for a moment, and then resumed its furious charge.

Tidus touched the ground lightly, and then took off again. He then performed his "round trip" ability, tossing the Brotherhood like a boomerang, to strike the Zu from behind. He continued his barrage by letting loose an Aerial Rave attack, a series of aerial slashes that looked too damn stylish, with the Rebellion. The Zu, busy trying to get itself past Tidus' viscous slashes, didn't notice the Brotherhood closing in until it had gouged out a huge chunk of flesh and nearly tore off its left wing. It roared in agony as Tidus landed on the ground, catching the Brotherhood and returning it to its sheath in one smooth movement. With one wing incapacitated, the Zu was forced to land on the ground, out of its element.

Tidus charged forward, but was swept off his feet by the Zu's good wing, tossing him backwards a good 30 feet. Rolling backwards to quickly get back on his feet, he rolled sideways to avoid being caught by the Zu's jaws, for it had lunged forward while he was tumbling backward.

The Zu kept up its relentless attack, forcing Tidus to dodge its snapping jaws without having a chance to attack. It threw itself forward again, but Tidus had flipped forward, over its outstretched neck. "Helm Breaker!" Tidus cried out as he threw himself downward with all his strength, the Rebellion slashing downward with full force. The Zu snapped its head back just in time, and the Rebellion struck sand.

As Tidus struggled to pull the Rebellion out, the Zu's jaws snapped forward. Tidus tried to shift out of the way, but the Zu was too fast for him. The razor sharp teeth struck his right arm, and Tidus screamed as pain shot through his arm like a red-hot razor. He pulled the Rebellion out with a shaking left arm, and sheathed it in exchange for the Brotherhood. The Zu lunged again, and Tidus held up the Brotherhood in a defensive position in a feeble attempt to block the attack.

But it never came. A red blur streaked past him and the Zu cried out in renewed pain. Tidus lowered the Brotherhood to see better, and he noticed Auron standing next to him. "Need help?" Auron asked. Tidus didn't respond, the Zu was coming for more. Auron prepared for another slash, but a lightning bolt came out of nowhere and struck the Zu in the eye. Finally succumbing to death, the fiend toppled to the ground in a messy heap, its carcass dissolving into pyreflies.

Both guardians glanced to their right and saw Lulu walking towards them. "You guys can't get anything done without any of us girls around." She muttered as they glared at her reproachfully. The trio trudged off together through the desert, trying to find everyone else.

* * *

Two hours later, they had managed to find everyone except Yuna. Rikku had been leading the party through the trackless wasteland, apparently knowing where she was going. Tidus looked over her shoulder and saw her fiddling with a radio. He knew she was trying to find any form of assistance, since she had told them that there was an Al Bhed Home here. "Anything yet?" He asked. Rikku looked at him sadly and shook her head. 

Suddenly, the radio sprang to life. Apparently whatever message it was blaring out was very urgent.

"**_Yddahdeuh ymm Al Bhed ihedc! Home ec ihtan yddylg! Ymm Al Bhed ihedc yna du nadinh du Home essateydamo nakyntmacc uv mulydeuh!" _**(Attention all Al Bhed units! Home is under attack! All Al Bhed units are to return to Home regardless of location!)

A look of absolute horror came upon Rikku's face as the message played out. "What was that message?" Wakka asked viscously, his voice dripping acidic venom. "Alerting all of you Al Bhed that the summoner has been captured, huh?"

Rikku shook her head. "No. Home is under attack. We've got to get there!" Rikku said in a very shaky voice before taking off into the desert. "Hey Rikku! Rikku, wait!" Tidus cried out. But a roaring drowned out his cries. Everyone looked up. A massive hovership floated above them. Rikku cried out in relief and quickly set the radio to a certain frequency.

"**_Brother! Tufh raha!" _**(Brother! Down here!)

The hovership descended to the ground in front of them and six Al Bhed emerged. The first two among them were Rikku's brother and the sniper. Rikku rushed up to them and she started conversing with Brother in very rapid Al Bhed. The party walked hesitantly towards the ship, but they went inside with the rest of the Al Bhed. Wakka required some convincing from Auron's No-dachi before he finally stepped inside.

* * *

Warning: Blatant Matrix Revolutions Rip-off

Everybody was in the bridge, trying to find the fastest route to get to Home. Brother's eyes were darting over the map, analyzing every detail, every route, and every tunnel in the extensive underground network that the Al Bhed had built under the desert. Buddy was bending over the map as well.

**_"Drafiends ryja dygah Zihldeuh 21," _**(The fiends have taken Junction 21.) Buddy's finger pointed at the area that was supposed to be swarming with fiends.

"**_Dra fyo Pnudran yht E caa ed, ev fa tnub tufh vnus pnuytlycd rana, ehdancald 53, fa sekrd pa ypma du cinbneca dras. Fa ku vencd, ryssan yc taab yc fa lyh, drah pmuf uin AFS Crulgfyja. Rubavimmo fa lyh bihlr y ruma pek ahuikr vun oui du kad drnuikr fedr dra aclyba cbaatanc."_** (The way Brother and I see it, if we drop down from broadcast here, intersect 53, we might be able to surprise them. We go first, hammer as deep as we can, then blow our AFS (Anti-Fiend Shockwave). Hopefully we can punch a hole big enough for you to get through with the escape speeders.)

The hovership, named the _Hammer_, had six one-man escape speeders so that everyone could ditch in an emergency. Rikku's eyes narrowed as she analyzed the map more closely. She didn't like leaving Brother and Buddy behind. Not even Nhadala, who was standing behind them.

"**_Ed yehd bnaddo_**," (It ain't pretty,) Buddy said as he noticed Rikku's expression, "**_pid dra fyo E caa ed, edc dra uhmo fyo pylg."_** (but the way I see it, it's the only way back.)

Rikku shook her head. "**_Hu edc hud. Dranac yhudran_**." (No it's not. There's another.)

She pointed at a tunnel much smaller than the one they had planned to take.

"**_Y cibbund meha. Ed tnubc tufh nekrd rana, y druicyht sadanc crund uv 21. Ev fana milgo, fa syo pa ypma du cmeb tufh fedruid dras ajan ghufehk." _**(A support line. It drops down right here, a thousand meters short of 21. If we're lucky, we may be able to slip down without them ever knowing.)

Both Brother and Buddy leaned closer to the map.

"**_Edc esbuccepma, drydc y salryhelym meha. Hu uha lyh bemud salryhelym,"_** (It's impossible, that's a mechanical line. No one can pilot mechanical.) Buddy said.

"**_E lyh_**," (I can.) Rikku countered.

"**_Pimmcred_**." (Bullshit)

"**_Ufi tyri ud_**," (I've done it,) Rikku shot back.

"**_Dryd fyc 3 oaync yku, Rikku,"_** (That was 3 years ago, Rikku,) Nhadala finally said.

"**_E cyet E lyh tu ed_**," (I said I can do it,) Rikku stated. Brother and Buddy started debating with each other in a corner in hushed tones.

After three minutes, Buddy turned to her and said "**_Veha. Famm tu ed ouin fyo. Zicd dno hud du kad ic gemmat."_**(Fine. We'll do it your way. Just try not to get us killed.)

* * *

Cid leaned over the tactical map. The ground was shaking and dust crumbled down from the ceiling. He looked up at it. Way up, the walls of the dock were soon going to be breached by Sand Worms. 

"**_Druca Guado..."_** (Those Guado…) he muttered to himself.

An officer, 3rd Sergeant Shinra, strode over to him.

"**_Cen. Caecsel ec bnuzaldehk dfahdo-dfu sehidac du pnaylr,_**" (Sir. Seismic is projecting twenty-two minutes to breach.) The officer reported.

Cid's lips pursed into a thin line.

**_"Drao lyhd ghuf fa tuhd ryja yh AFS, cu draomm ryja du yddylg eh fyjac. Luhlahdnyda uin uvvahca uh dra Sand Worms. Untan dra APU'c ehdu bucedeuh,"_** (They can't know we don't have an AFS, so they'll have to attack in waves. Concentrate our offense on the Sand Worms. Order the APU's (Armored Personnel Units) into position.) He ordered.

"**_Oac cen_**." (Yes sir.)

Shinra left and Cid was left staring at the ceiling, where more dust was being shaken loose.

* * *

Gippal strode over to his command APU (a humanoid-shaped machine with arms that ended in huge machine gun barrels) and pulled himself up onto the pilot's seat. Flipping the 'on' switch, the control panel slowly moved towards him. As he watched, hundreds more of Al Bhed soldiers were climbing into their own APU's. He flipped few more switches, and gave the two joysticks that controlled the machine a little twist. The automation sprang to life. 

In front of him, scores more of APU's were doing the same thing. In the loudest drill voice that he could muster, he yelled out, "**_VYMM EH!"_** (FALL IN!)

They arranged themselves in front him three ranks deep and countless files wide.

**_"Dra fiends yna ypuid du pnaalr dra tulg fymmc. Naluh crufc dryd fa'na uidhispanat rayjemo, ypuid dah du uha,"_** (The fiends are about to breech the dock walls. Recon shows that we're outnumbered heavily, about ten to one,) started Gippal. **_"Dra mycd desa drec rybbbahat fa mucd pek desa. Edc ymm uv uin vyimdc, acbaleymmo seha."  
_**(The last time this happpened (as in about 50 years ago when Sin attacked the last Home), we lost big time. Its all of our faults, especially mine.)

"**_Rufajan,"_** (However,) Gippal continued, "**_Dutyo femm pa tevvanahd. Fa crymm cdyht vens ykyehcd draen yddylg! Dra mekrd uv jelduno ec fedr ic!_**" (Today will be different. We shall stand firm against their attack! The light of victory is with us!)

Gippal manipulated the mood of the gathering like a master. He could see the soldiers' eyes go from flat grey to sparkling blue. He could smell their hunger for victory.

"**_Ymm nekrd! Drec ec ed. Huf oui ymm ghuf sa, cu Emm zicd cyo drec yc cesbma yc E lyh. Ev edc uin desa du tea, edc uin desa. Ymm E ycg ec, ev fa ryja du keja draca pycdyntc uin mejac, FA KEJA AS RAMM PAVUNA FA TU!"_** (All right! This is it. Now you all know me, so I'll just say this as simple as I can. If it's our time to die, it's our time. All I ask is, if we have to give these bastards our lives, WE GIVE 'EM HELL BEFORE WE DO!)

A wild cheer erupted from the assembled officers, captains leading their men.

"**_Lraanc vun Lussyhtan Gippal!"_** (Cheers for Commander Gippal!) one yelled.

Gippal cut him off. "**_Hud oad, so vneahtc. Fa ryja fuh hudrehk oad. Upao so untanc yht vekrd mega fynneunc. Dutyo, fa femm feh drec pyddma, yht dutyo fa crymm nakyeh uin ruhun!"_** (Not yet, my friends. We have won nothing yet. Obey my orders and fight like warriors. Today, we will win this battle, and today we shall regain our honor!)

Another immense cheer went up.

* * *

The _Hammer_ floated down the vertical tunnel and emerged into another conjoined horizontal tunnel. The sphere-oscillo finder's display showed a 3-D map of the tunnel that they were currently in. Their ship showed up as a tiny red dot, and at the very front of the tunnel was a big blotch of red that resembled an ink stain. Without a doubt, it was the fiends. 

"Holy Yevon, would you look at that." Wakka said in awe.

"Quiet." Buddy silenced Wakka with a wave of his hand.

"**_Ruf vyn du dra ubahehk?_**" (How far to the opening?) He asked Nhadala.

**_"1.4 gemusadanc,"_** (1.4 kilometers,) She replied.

**_"Fana cdemm kahanydehk duu rud y veamt,"_** (We're still generating too hot a field,) Brother muttered.

**_"Nhadala, gemm ymm yiqemeyno cocdasc. Keja sa vimm syhiym, tnub tufh vuin bytc,"_** (Nhadala, kill all auxiliary systems. Give me full manual, drop down four pads,) Rikku ordered.

The _Hammer_ was kept aloft because of five hover pads on each side of the ship that blasted high-powered jets of super-heated air onto the surroundings. Rikku had all but one of them, the central one at the bottom, to be shut down so as to avoid catching unwanted attention from the fiends.

**_"Ed'mm puddus uid,"_** (It'll bottom out,) Buddy muttered as Nhadala keyed in the commands to shut down all unnecessary functions.

The roar of twenty hover pads died down to the low rumble of one.

**_"Ayco pypo,"_** (Easy baby,) Rikku muttered to herself as she moved the joystick with excruciating slowness.

**_"700 sadanc,"_** (700 meters,) Nhadala said.

**_"Ev fa lyh zicd kad lmuca ahuikr ..."_** (If we can just get close enough…) Rikku nudged the joystick forward a little bit more.

**_"600 sadanc,"_**(600 meters,) Nhadala intoned.

Suddenly, one of the hover pads scraped against a piece of wreckage that jutted out from the tunnel floor. The sound reverberated throughout the tunnel, and every fiend looked in their direction.

**_"Cred!"_** (Shit!) Rikku cursed.

**_"Zek'c ib, rana drao lusa!"_** (Jig's up, here they come!) Nhadala said urgently.

**_"Keja sa vimm bufan, vimm cocdasc!"_** (Give me full power, full systems!) Rikku shouted.

"Man the gun ports, every goddamned one of 'em! Go, go!" Buddy ordered. Everyone except Tidus scrambled out of the cockpit.

**_"Nhadala, ouina dra pacd kihhan fa ryja, ku fedr dras."_** (Nhadala, you're the best gunner we have, go with them.)

Nhadala unbuckled herself from the co-pilot's seat and dashed out.

"Tidus, take her place!"

The _Hammer_ went from adamantoise-slow to coyote-fast in less than 5 seconds.

"Whoa, watch it there, lady!" Auron yelled as the _Hammer_ lurched forward at increasing speeds.

"Hang onto your lunch, Auron. Here we go!" Rikku jammed the joystick downward and the hovership was put into a flip that would've made Gippal proud, and it plunged straight into the entrance to the mechanical line.

**_"Rumo Yevon! E tethd ghuf drec creb luimt tu dryd!" _**(Holy Yevon! I didn't know this ship could do that!) Buddy muttered to himself as he tried to keep the contents of his stomach inside.

* * *

Gippal's APU slowly strode forward, step-by-step. Every time the foot of the massive machina hit the floor, the platform shook. The shaking was made even worse with the fact the Gippal was accompanied by two more officers in their own APUs. When Gippal had reached his assigned position, he put his APU to a halt. His officers did the same after arranging themselves into a triangle formation. 

Gippal glanced around he dock. Every APU in the regiment had been arranged in an array that had been designed to make maximum use of their firepower. The massive control tower that stood in the middle of the dock bristled with guns, all the more giving a chance that the fiends were screwed the moment they entered the dock.

A crumbling in the ceiling caught his attention. Turning his gaze upward, he saw an ominous crack in the domed ceiling of the dock. The crack grew steadily larger every second. Soon enough, the source of the crack emerged. A sand worm, apparently burrowing its way down, appeared in the center of the now-massive crack.

_Not yet._ Gippal told himself. The Sand Worm emerged fully from the hole and fell like a rock into the dock itself. Gippal restrained himself from turning his guns on the now-helpless fiend. The infantry would take care of those.

Keeping his gaze on the hole, Gippal could now hear a steady roaring, growing louder every second.

_Now…_

**_"Ghilgma ib!"_** (Knuckle up!) Gippal yelled and switched off the safeties for his machina's two massive machine guns. Every other APU did the same. In less than half a second, not a single barrel was pointed away from the hole where the fiends would emerge.

Gippal could now see faint flapping of wings. The fiends were about to emerge.

**_"VUN HOME!"_** (FOR HOME!)

The APUs opened fire. Lead poured in from _all_ directions. The vultures that were at the mouth of the hole were instantly shredded to pieces, and those that were foolish enough to continue barreling forward were ripped to shreds by the Al Bhed's guns. But even with the massive amount of firepower on the Al Bhed's end, the fiends had found the vector least protected by the gunfire, and they quickly darted through.

The APUs on that side of the dome quickly shifted their fire to obliterate the fiends in the dock, but that meant diverting their firepower from the hole.

Which meant that _more_ fiends were able to come through.

Soon enough, enough fiends had darted through the hail of lead, that the APUs had diverted their attention from the hole, and were now mowing down the flyers that darted here and there. Only the guns on the control tower remained trained on it.

* * *

On the lower levels, the Sand Worm slowly picked itself up, preparing to burrow into the inner sanctums of Home. Al Bhed infantry navigated their way through the tunnels and passageways, harrying the Sand Worm from everywhere, but their RPG's (rocket propelled grenades) seemed to have no effect on its thick hide whatsoever. Luckily, one of the soldiers hit a vulnerable spot, and the Sand Worm flailed around for a bit before steadying itself and resuming its burrowing.

* * *

Up above, Gippal and his men fired their guns madly, trying to take down as many fiends as possible. 

**_"Myykan ib!"_** (Laager up!) He cried out and whirled his APU to his right, rearranging himself back into the triangle formation. The three slowly rotated around in a wheel of death, cutting down fiends left and right. Scores of Ahrimans and Vultures were felled as the bullets sliced through their frail wings.

Suddenly, the left gun on one of the officer's APUs sputtered two rounds and the bolt locked open. Out of ammo.

**_"Namuyt!"_** (Reload!) The officer, whose name was Zuka, cried out, still firing at the fiends with his available right gun.

* * *

Inside a fortified bunker, a soldier yanked up the eyepiece of his helmet. 

**_"Namuyt heha!"_** (Reload nine!) He stated.

A box of ammo was loaded onto a cart designed specifically to reload APUs. Benzo (should he be here?) glanced nervously to the young soldier next to him, who had the misfortune of having the box of ammo end up on his cart.

They locked eyes for a moment, and then the gate opened. An Ahriman immediately descended on it, intent on devouring the soldiers holed up inside the bunker. But an APU beat it to its goal, and it was mowed down mercilessly.

**_"Ku, ku, suja, suja!"_** (Go, go, move, move!) The guard urged.

The soldier rushed out along with two escorts armed with AK-47s.

* * *

Gippal's face contorted with exertion as he shifted his aim left and right, trying to bring down the immense number of fiends that had made it through the hail of lead that the tower still provided. 

**_"Fydlr ouin mavd!"_** (Watch your left!) He yelled to Soha, the other officer, when he noticed a gap into their field of fire. Soha immediately shifted his aim to his left, cutting off the three vultures that had tried to dart around him.

**_"Tuh'd mad dras drnuikr!"_** (Don't let them through!) He yelled. Soha shouted an affirmative. But as Gippal fired at a target to his right, and Soha fired at a target to his left, a lone vulture took advantage of the gap in their defense and slipped through.

It impacted on the back of the Zuka's APU, sending him tumbling off the platform.

**_"Zuka!"_** (Do I have to translate this?) Gippal cried out, but he knew that Zuka was already dead.

He tore his eyes away from where he had seen Zuka land, and continued blasting at the fiends.

The tower continued blasting lead at blistering rates at the hole, but fiends were still leaking out of it. Suddenly, a stream of fiends so dense that the guns of the tower made hardly any difference in whittling down their numbers emerged from the hole. The tower's guns continued firing and firing, slaughtering fiends by the dozens. But for every one fiend they slew, a hundred more were waiting in line.

The immense number of fiends formed a crude battering ram, and though the guns slowed them down somewhat, they barreled forward, intent on collapsing the tower. They did. The battering ram that was composed entirely of fiends impacted against the top of the tower, toppling it, and bringing down more than half of the Al Bhed's firepower.

* * *

Down in the command room, the tremor caused by the felling of the tower reverberated throughout the room. 

**_"Frana dra ramm ec so ehvyhdno!"_** (Where the hell is my infantry!) Cid asked Shinra. **_"E fyhd dryd kuttyshat Sand Worm dygah tufh!"_** (I want that goddamned Sand Worm taken down!)

* * *

At the lower levels of Home, the infantry continued harassing the Sand Worm, while it continued its leisurely burrowing. Then, four rockets hit at the exact same spot at the same time. Their combined effect did what a single rocket could not have done. The Sand Worm roared in pain and it flailed around before dissolving into dozens of pyreflies.

* * *

Everyone in the Command & Control(C&C) room cheered as they Sand Worm disappeared from their sensors. 

Suddenly, the technician at the sensor station cried out **_"Sand Worm 2 yd dra pnaylr buehd!"_** (Sand Worm 2 at the breach point!)

**_"Kuttyshed!"_** (Goddamnit!) Cid cursed.

* * *

The Sand Worm wriggled itself out of the massive hole that the first one created, and toppled down onto a bridge where three APUs were standing. One of the pilots stopped firing and looked up. His comrade could have sworn a saw a brownish shade on the soldier's pants before that Sand Worm crashed into the bridge, killing all three of them.

* * *

The _Hammer_ tore down the narrow tunnel that was the mechanical line, guns blazing at the fiends that pursued them. It definitely wasn't designed to navigate tunnels as narrow as this, and Rikku found that out the hard way as she took another sharp turn, the edge of the hovership scraping against the tunnel wall. 

**_"Cred, cra'c kud y vyd ycc!"_** (Shit, she's got a fat ass!) Rikku cursed.

Fiends had latched onto the ship and were tearing away wildly at it. One of the hover pads were being pecked at mercilessly by three Vultures, and the armor plates protecting it were soon torn off. The damage registered on the hull display.

Rikku cursed as she watched the hull integrity readout dropped another 3 percent.

"Keep 'em off me!" She yelled into the mike.

"Yevon, there's a shit-storm of 'em." Auron muttered as he gunned down fiends by the dozens.

The fiends were slowly encroaching the surface of the ship, and Buddy noticed that they were headed for the front of the ship, where an antenna stood.

**_"Brother, oui caa dryd?"_** (Brother, you see that?) Buddy asked.

Brother glanced at where the fiends were headed.

**_"Drao'na yvdan dra nyteu! Cdub dras!"_** (They're after the radio! Stop them!)

Too late. The fiends tore through the meager plates that were welded onto the antenna like a hot knife through butter. As the piece of metal tumbled away, so did their hopes of contacting Home.

* * *

The Al Bhed technician at the sensor station started as the systems started to read an anomaly in one of the tunnels outside of Home. He zoomed in, and noticed a blue blip being chased by several red blips. 

**_"Cid, E kud ehlusehk!"_** (Cid, I got incoming!) he shouted.

**_"Fa kud y tulg vimm uv ehlusehk!"_** (We got a dock full of incoming!) Cid retorted.

**_"Cen, oac, cen, pid drec ec tevvanahd, cen!"_** (Sir, yes, sir, but this is different, sir!) the technician said.

**_"Fryd?"_** (What?) Cid asked, coming over to look.

**_"E drehg edc uha uv uinc, cen,"_**(I think it's one of ours, sir.) He said uncertainly.

Cid stared at the mass of red blips and the blue blip that was being chased by them.

**_"Dryd'c esbuccepma."_** (That's impossible.) Cid stated disbelievingly.

**_"Sphere Oscilo Finder'c dnoehk du luhvens, cen,"_** (Sphere Oscilo Finder's trying to confirm, sir,) Shinra told him.

**_"Luhdyld dras. E fyhd yllacc lutac,"_** (Contact them. I want access codes,) Cid demanded.

**_"Fana dnoehk, cen. Dranac hu nacbuhca."_** (We're trying, sir. There's no response.)

Cid looked at the screen more closely. **_"Edc y dnelg. Dryd'c hud uha uv uinc. Ed lyh'd pa. Dryd'c y salryhelym meha. Hu uha lyh bemud salryhelym."_** (It's a trick. That's not one of ours. It can't be. That's a mechanical line. No one can pilot mechanical.)

_Nobody except…_

* * *

Rikku jerked the joystick around and put the _Hammer_ into a spin, navigating around another tight corner. 

"Forward aft, 30 degrees at eighty percent." She told Tidus.

"30 degrees, eighty." Tidus repeated, inputting the command as fast as his fingers could move. The ship barely made it past the next turn.

"Lower starboard, 60 degrees at twenty percent."

"Sixty degrees…" Tidus' hand fumbled, and he input ten percent instead of twenty. The hovership nearly crashed into the wall, and it took all of Rikku's piloting skill to bring it back on course.

"Shit! Come on, keep up!" She snapped at Tidus.

"I'm trying!" He retorted.

* * *

**_"Cen, Sphere Oscilo Finder luhvensc. Edc dra Hammer, cen," _**(Sir, Sphere Oscilo Finder confirms. It's the _Hammer_, sir,) The technician at the sensor station told Cid. Cid stared at the sensor display disbelievingly. 

**_"Ruf lyh dryd pa?"_** (How can that be?) he muttered to himself.

**_"Dra creb ec ihtan yddylg, cicdyehehk rayjo tysyka, pid yd edc bnacahd jamuledo, ed'mm naylr Kyda 3 eh 12 sehidac,"_** (The ship is under attack, sustaining heavy damage, but at its present velocity, it'll reach Gate 3 in 12 minutes,) The technician continued.

**_"Cen, draen AFS luimt dyga uid ajano veaht uid drana,"_** (Sir, their AFS could take out every fiend out there,) Shinra said.

**_"Ed't dyga uid suna dryh dryd. Ed'mm feba uid uin ahdena tavahca cocdas. Fa pmuf yh AFS ehceta drana, famm muca dra tulg,"_** (It'd take out more than that. It'll wipe out our entire defense system. We blow an AFS inside there, we'll lose the dock,) Cid muttered. (AFS's have the curious effect of disabling machines as well)

**_"Cen, fa ymnayto mucd dra tulg."_** (Sir, we already lost the dock.)

Cid paused for a moment.

**_"Ubah dra kyda."_** (Open the gate.)

* * *

**_"Kyda 3 ec hud nacbuhtehk!"_** (Gate 3 is not responding!) The technician at the wrecked Gate Control tower shouted into the radio so as to be heard over the sounds of battle. 

**_"Faja dygah lnedelym tysyka, Cen!"_** (We've taken critical damage, Sir!) He paused at the sound of someone screaming. **_"Fa'ja mucd luhdnum! Fa lyhd ubah ed!"_** (We've lost control! We can't open it!)

* * *

Rikku guided the ship past two more sharp turns and then followed the tunnel into a loop. As she straightened the hovership, Tidus noticed an opening at the end of the tunnel. 

"There's the exit." He pointed it out to Rikku.

"On my mark, give me full power at 90 degrees to lower left starboard." She ordered. "Full power… ninety degrees…" Tidus repeated.

Rikku pushed the _Hammer_ to go even faster, and as soon as they were at the exit, she shouted "Now!"

Tidus slammed his fist down onto the button to alter the course, and gave an almighty grunt as the hovership went from vertical to horizontal in half a second. Rikku jammed the joystick downward, and it was all she could do to prevent the ship from crashing onto the tunnel floor.

"Hold on, baby." She muttered to herself. The _Hammer_ finally rose from the ground, and Rikku relaxed her hold on the joystick a tiny bit.

"Goddamn, girl, you can drive." Auron muttered. "We ain't Home yet. What about the gate?" She asked. Tidus glanced at the sensor display.

"Fiends are inside the dock." He told her.

"Are we too late?" Rikku cranked up the speed even higher.

* * *

Inside Home's dock, to say that it was a living hell would be an understatement. As soon as Al Bhed soldiers emerged from cover, they were plucked off their feet by the fiends before they could even fire a round from their assault rifles. 

Inside the passageways, the fiends pressed inexorably inward. Even if the Al Bhed could defend themselves from one side, the fiends attacked them from another. Soldiers dropped like flies, and the tunnels were filled with the cries of the dying.

* * *

Cid wiped off the dust that had gathered on the tactical map. **_"Ruf syho APUc yna ubanydeuhym?"_** (How many APUs are operational?) he asked Shinra. **_"Drendaah cen."_** (Thirteen sir.) 

**_"Kad sa dra uha lmucacd du Kyda 3."_** (Get me the one closest to Gate 3.)

* * *

Gippal fired his guns left and right, mowing down fiends by the dozens, but no matter how many he killed, there were always more of them. He screamed, not in fear or pain, but in rage as he fired again and again at the fiends set on them by the hated Guado who had ruined his life. 

He knew nothing but the rage that engulfed him.

All of a sudden, the APU's left gun sputtered and went dead. **_"NAMUYT!"_** (RELOAD!) He screamed.

* * *

**_"Ed'c beccehk sadym,"_** (It's pissing metal,) The soldier inside the bunker muttered to himself. Another box of ammo was loaded onto a cart. Benzo's cart. He looked in shock at the soldier who stood at the doorway. 

**_"Ku!"_** (Go!) the soldier said, pulling the lever to open the door. The door opened, and Benzo rushed out with his two armed escorts. He ran forward blindly, following the soldier in front of him.

Occasionally, his escorts would fire a burst of lead from their AK-47s at a fiend that had gotten too close. But the rear escort let his guard down, and an Ahriman snatched him off his feet.

Benzo had finally reached Gippal's APU, and he pushed the cart to the back of it. Raising the cart's platform, he started to load in the box of ammo.

**_"Raytc ib, draona lusehk nuiht!"_**(Heads up, they're coming round!) Gippal shouted to the remaining escort.

The soldier quickly fired at the fiends that tried to approach from behind, but as he fired at an Ahriman, a Vulture speared him through the stomach with its beak, and carried him off.

**_"Pareht oui!"_** (Behind you!) Gippal cried out. Benzo leapt aside as Gippal's APU turned around, cutting off the fiends that had tried to sneak up behind them. Benzo picked himself up and noticed that the box of ammo was only half-loaded.

_Oh shit._ He thought before climbing up the back of the APU. He started kicking at the ammo box.

**_"Ed'c zyssat!"_** (It's jammed!) He yelled to Gippal, still trying to get the ammo box inside the magazine receiver.

Gippal looked forward and saw fiends forming themselves into a solid battering ram; similar to the one they had formed to collapse the tower. _So this is how I'm going to die…_

**_"Vunkad ed, get!"_** (Forget it, kid!) he shouted to Benzo. **_"Kad uiddy rana!'_** (Get outta here!)

Benzo gave the ammo box one last kick, and it finally slid inside the receiver. **_"E kud ed!"_** (I got it!)

Gippal shifted his APU to face the battering ram head on and fired with both guns blazing on full-auto. He screamed, this time in genuine fear. His guns mowed down the fiends dozens per second, but there were hundreds more of them. **_"HUUUUUUUU!_**" (NOOOOOOOO! .')

The fiends hesitated for a split-second, and then dove forward, completely engulfing the lone APU. Gippal screamed in raw agony as claws and teeth ripped at his body from everywhere, his stoned fingers still clenching down the triggers on his joystick. Finally, when all the fiends had passed, the APU's guns sputtered out three rounds before collapsing onto its back.

Benzo threw himself onto the ground as the APU fell. He quickly glanced at the cockpit. From where he could see the top of it, it was covered with blood.

**_"Lybdyeh Gippal!_**" (Captain Gippal!) he whispered, his heart filled with dread. He scrambled up and climbed to the side of the open-air cockpit. Gippal lay supposedly dead in the seat, his corpse riddled with innumerable cuts, bites, gashes and lacerations. Blood coated the entire cockpit.

_Oh no!_ Benzo couldn't see how Gippal could still be alive. Suddenly, the 'corpse' drew in a rattling gasp of air.

**_"Drao'na lusehk,"_**(They're coming.) He muttered. **_"Draona lusehk. Dra Hammer."_** (They're coming. The _Hammer_.)

His eyes locked with Benzo's.

**_"Fryd?"_** (What?) Benzo couldn't understand him.

**_"Oui ryja du ubah dryd Kyda,"_** (You have to open that Gate.) Gippal spoke with incredible effort through the pain that overwhelmed his senses. "Cut the counter-weights."

Benzo glanced up at the massive gate behind the APU.

**_"Oui lyh tu ed! Rinno! Ranac hu desa,"_** (You can do it! Hurry! Here's no time,) Gippal said urgently.

**_"Lybdyeh, E teth'd vehecr dra dnyehehk bnuknys,"_** (Captain, I didn't finish the training program,) Benzo admitted.

Gippal managed to give a small laugh despite his pain.

**_"Haedran tet E."_** (Neither did I.) He confessed before becoming horribly still.

Benzo quickly searched his pockets. There was supposed to be an Elixir somewhere in there!

He found it and quickly poured its contents all over Gippal. His wounds started to close in on themselves, leaving only scars in their wake. The only injury that remained was his right eye, and though the wound was gone, the pupil of the eye was no longer a bright green, but a dull grey. Benzo knew Gippal would never see out of that eye again. He started to buckle himself into the cockpit seat, sitting on Gippal's lap so he could reach the joysticks.

* * *

The fiends continued tearing away at the _Hammer_, this time disabling the hover pads that kept the rear end of the ship off the ground. The _Hammer'_s rear fell and started grinding against the tunnel floor. Inside the ship, one of the ammunition lines went berserk. Round flew out of it, cutting through equipment and a crewmember. 

**_"Mulg dryd tufh!"_** (Lock that down!) Brother shouted.

**_"Gemm dra vaatan!"_**(Kill the feeder!) A crewman shouted.

**_"Fa fuhd syga ed, fa kuddy pmuf dra AFS huf!"_** (We won't make it, we gotta blow the AFS now!) Brother said urgently through the comm. to Rikku.

Rikku struggled to keep the hovership under control. They _had _to make it.

_Come on, someone, please!_ she silently begged.

* * *

Gippal's APU rose, but this time Benzo was piloting it. Turning it around, he started moving it towards the gate. **_"Gaab ouin faekrd vunfynt."_** (Keep your weight forward.) He muttered instructions from the training program to himself. **_"Mekrd yc y vaydran, mekrd yc y vaydran."_** (Light as a feather, light as a feather.) 

The APU charged forward, brushing aside debris like pieces of cardboard.

* * *

**_"Cid, Sphere Oscilo Finder nabundc Lybdyeh Gippal'c APU ec ib yht sujehk du Kyda 3!"_** (Cid, Sphere Oscilo Finder reports Captain Gippal's APU is up and moving to Gate 3!) Shinra said urgently. Cid looked up, stratled by this piece of news. 

Perhaps there was still hope...

* * *

Benzo urged the APU forward, but a bunch of fiends stopped him in his tracks. He raised the APU's guns, aiming carefully. 

**_"Tuh'd ujan-cxiaawa dra dnekkan_**." (Don't over-squeeze the trigger.) He muttered before opening fire.

Three vultures were killed, and the rest scattered. Benzo shook his head to clear it of what had just happened, and continued forward.

* * *

**_"Lybdyeh Gippal'c APU ryt zicd naylrat Kyda 3!"_** (Captain Gippal's APU had just reached Gate 3!) 

**_"Ruf silr desa?"_** (How much time?) Cid asked Shinra.

**_"Dfu sehidac du esbyld!"_** (Two minutes to impact!)

Cid snatched up the radio. **_"Lybdyeh Gippal, tu oui lubo?"_** (Captain Gippal, do you copy?)

No response.

**_"E drehg rec nyteu ec tufh, cen,"_** (I think his radio is down, sir,) Shinra told him. Cid took no heed. Downed radio or not, Gippal would get his message.

**_"Gippal, drec ec Cid. E tuhd ghuf ev oui lyh rayn sa, pid ev oui lyh..."_** (Gippal, this is Cid. I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can…)

* * *

…_the Hammer's 2 minutes away. You've got 2 minutes, captain, to get that gate open…_

Cid's voice echoed throughout Gippal's half-conscious mind. _Two minutes…open the gate…_

_Rikku…_

* * *

**_"Kad du dra syeh talg! Lrynka dra AFS!" _**(Get to the main deck! Charge the AFS!) Brother shouted to Buddy. 

Buddy tore himself away from the gun port and dashed for the main deck. Dodging a live wire that had been torn off its base, he threw himself through a small fire that had blossomed inside the ship before reaching the control station.

His fingers moving faster than he thought they could, he quickly set the AFS charging.

* * *

Benzo stopped at the foot of the gate, and turned the APU to face the gears that kept the counter-weights in place. Raising the APU's guns, he took aim. Little did he know that a fiend was barreling straight for him. 

He saw it at the last moment and tried to aim, but he didn't have enough time. The fiend crashed into the side of the APU and they collapsed onto the floor. Benzo looked up in panic and saw the fiend rearing up to strike again.

* * *

A massive jerk brought Gippal back from his half-conscious state. Looking around, he saw Benzo seated on his lap, piloting the APU. Then he looked right and saw the fiend. With a lightning-quick motion, he drew a machine pistol from his belt and blew the fiend to kingdom come. With the fiend dead, Benzo was free to cut the counterweights. 

**_"Tu ed, get,"_**(Do it, kid,) He told Benzo.

Benzo nodded and brought up the APU's gun. Aiming at the counterweights carefully, he opened fire. The rounds cut through the gears like a wedge, and the gate started to open slowly.

* * *

Rikku saw it first. A stream of reddish light was emerging from the end of the tunnel. The gate was opening. 

"Yes!" she said, her voice laden with relief. Tidus looked at her uncertainly.

"Can we make it?" he asked.

"We ain't come this far."

Rikku pushed a lever to redline the reactor, pushing everything past a 100 percent. The hovership raced forward, completely outstripping the fiends that pursued it. It crashed through the half-open gate, coming to a harsh landing on top of one of the bridges.

As soon as it landed, fiends began hightailing it out of Home, for they knew that ship had come with an AFS.

**_"Pinh ed, Buddy!"_** (Burn it, Buddy!) Brother shouted.

Buddy twisted the switch to activate the AFS, and a greenish shockwave emanated from the _Hammer_. To the machines and people in the dock, it took no heed, but to the fleeing fiends, it gave no quarter. As soon as the wave touched a fiend, it _exploded_.

Soon, every fiend within a kilometer's radius of Home was reduced to a bunch of pyreflies. In the C&C room, everyone except Cid cheered. Cid didn't cheer simply because he was too relieved to even do so. What mattered was that they had bought time, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Rikku, Brother and Buddy strode out of the elevator to be greeted by Cid. 

**_"Ug, ev ed fych'd vun dra vyld dryd ouiryt zicd puikrd ic jymiypma desa, E fuimt luhcetan ryjehk oui luind-syndeymat. Ev oui'mm aqlica sa, E ryja du dno yht cymjyka drec tapylma."_** (Ok, if it wasn't for the fact that youhad just bought us valuable time, I would consider having you court-martialed. If you'll excuse me, I have to try and salvage this debacle.)

Rikku stared at her father in shock. _Court-martialed? Debacle?_

**_"Tet E zicd secc cusadrehk, Vydran? E druikrd fa zicd cyjat dra tulg,"_** (Did I just miss something, Father? I thought we just saved the dock,) Brother said.

**_"Fryd'c dra syddan fedr oui baubma? Oui lyh'd drehg pid veja sehidac eh vnuhd uv ouin vyla. Dryd AFS ghulgat uid ymsucd ajano beala uv ryntfyna yht ajano APU. Ev E fana dra Guado, E fuimt caht ajanodrehk E ryt rana nekrd huf. Cyja dra tulg, Brother? Oui zicd ryhtat ed du dras uh y cemjan bmyddan. Ev oui ryth'd puikrd ic desa fedr dryd yldeuh, ed fuimt'ja paah luhcetanat dnaycuh. Huf, ev oui'mm aqlica sa..." _**(What's the matter with you people? You can't think but five minutes in front of your face. That AFS knocked out almost every piece of hardware and every APU. If I were the Guado, I would send everything I had here right now. Save the dock, Brother? You just handed it to them on a silver platter. If you hadn't bought us time with that action, it would've been considered treason. Now, if you'll excuse me...")

Cid pushed his way past them into the elevator.

**_"Famm, dryd teth'd ku cu famm._**" (Well, that didn't go so well.) Buddy muttered.

* * *

At the dock, the surviving Al Bhed soldiers bustled about, salvaging whatever was still usable. An officer hurried a soldier who was welding off one of the guns from an APU. 

**_"Lusa uh, kad ed lid!"_** (Come on, get it cut!) he said. A sentry came towards him, reporting that the bridge was clear. Then, a faint roaring could be heard coming from the open gate. The officer stared at it in dread.

This could mean only one thing.

**_"Tu oui rayn dryd?"_** (Do you hear that?) he asked the sentry.

The sentry turned, the roaring growing even louder.

* * *

**_"Kad dryd lypma nih!"_** (Get that cable run!) Cid ordered to one of the technicians. **_"E fyhd drec codas pylg uhmeha!"_** (I want this sytem back online!) 

**_"Cid, ed'c dra tulg! Drao kud ehlusehk."_** (Cid, it's the dock! They got incoming.) Shinra reported, turning towards him.

Cid frowned.

**_"Untan ajanouha du vymm pylg. Caym dra cryvd. Huf!"_** (Order everyone to fall back. Seal the shaft. Now!) Once everyone had retreated into the inner sanctums of Home, Cid had planned to blow up to main shaft that led into them, cutting off access and buying them more time to evacuate.

* * *

**_"Suja ed!"_** (Move it!) The oficer cried out. As the last of the soldiers disappeared through the exit, he glanced back at the gate. 

_Oh my god! _

From the open gates emerged a mass of fiends larger than any he had ever seen in his life. Forcing his gaze away, he followed the soldiers through the exit.

* * *

**_"Ymm lmayn." _**(All clear.) Shinrareported. 

**_"Tu ed."_** (Do it.)

* * *

With everyone inside the lower levels, nobody came to harm as the main shaft exploded and caved in on itself. A shockwave reverberated throughout Home, and the lights went out for a few seconds before coming back on. Cid stared up at the ceiling. 

**_"Ouin suja."_** (Your move.)

* * *

"Lets go go go!" yelled Gippal as he directed the flow of soldiers hurrying towards the airship dock. 

He was so caught up with the evacuation operation that he didn't notice the party approaching him. When Tidus put his hand onto Gippal's shoulder, he nearly jumped out of his skin and unleashed a volley onto Tidus.

"It's just you. What do you want? I'm busy," he asked.

"'Where's the summoner?" asked Tidus.

"Should be in the summoners' sanctum. A security detail is proceeding there to evacuate the summoners and seal the shaft. Not all bombs have exploded you see, so the shaft is thinner than other sectors. According to Intel, the fiends have detected the breach and are heading there now," Gippal was interrupted by Nhadala.

"Captain, request permission to move out!" she asked.

"Permission granted, but take the Guardians with you," Gippal leaned forward and whispered in a hushed tone, "Obey _all_ their orders," he glanced at Auron, who stared menacingly back, "Especially the one in red."

* * *

"Damn...this place is a mess, and the summoners were held here for what purpose again?" asked Lulu. 

"We wanted to stop them from their pilgrimages to stop them from dying. It's not fair to them. Their human too you know!" replied Rikku.

_But why would they die? It they die so easily, what are Guardians for? _Tidus was getting confused. Really confused. He knew he was missing a major fact here, but he knew better than to open his mouth.

At the end of the corridor, Nhadala motioned for the soldiers to take their positions in case of an ambush while she opened the door with a key-card. All clear. The soldiers scurried and scanned the room for fiends. They saw Issaru's Ifrit (what was its name again?) and Dona's Ixion decimate the last of the fiends in the room. Then, Ifrit lugged a huge piece of debris and blocked the doorway. They came just in time; the fiends had already broken through.

When Issaru saw the party, he walked over, bowed and apologized," I'm sorry. We tried, but we couldn't stop them."

"Stop who? For what? And where's Yuna?" asked Tidus, feeling anxious and impatient. The makeshift door would not hold for long.

"Our point precisely," continued Dona, "Yuna was taken by the Guado. She fought well, the first summoner I knew that could summon four aeons at once while still maintaining enough power to shoot a gun. But she still fell. There were too many."

"My apologies," they said and bowed together.

"Never mind, at least you're safe," replied Lulu, "Now let's get outta-" She was cut off by Tidus.

"Why?" he asked, "Why did you Al-Bhed have to drag Yuna to this Godforsaken place to get kidnapped by the fucking Guado! Tell me why!"

Tidus was clearly pissed. His voice echoed throughout the empty metal corridors around Home. Everyone fell silent; even the fiends pounding on the "door" had mysteriously decided to break for tea.

(A/N: Imagine the "To Zanarkand" Theme being played, making the atmosphere feel down and miserable)

"Tidus-" Lulu started, but she was cut off by Rikku.

"Yuna will die, get it? She will die when she goes on the pilgrimage!" she shouted.

"Why? Its not as if I'm too weak! Even if I am I'll grow stronger! I'll even sacrifice my life for her!" replied Tidus in a loud, aggravated tone.

"You still don't get it. When Yunie get the final aeon and summons it, it will kill two things-" Rikku was cut off again by Tidus.

"Yes! I know! Sin! Sin will be dead!" he yelled.

"What about the second thing? The second thing would be her!" Rikku yelled back.

"What the ...!" muttered Tidus, face pale in shock.

"The final aeon will kill Yunie. Don't you get it?" said Rikku again, this time in a softer, more gentle tone.

Tidus stared hard into her green swirly eyes. They were brimming with tears. She couldn't have lied.

"Why didn't you tell me..." he muttered in a hoarse tone, trying to keep back the tears, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!"

As if on cue, the fiend returned from their tea break and broke down the door. Eager to vent his anger, pain and frustration, Tidus picked up two heavy machineguns nearby and shifted both to "full-auto". The he mounted but onto each arm and blasted hundreds of ammo slugs into the wave of fiends, yelling in pain and agony as he fired.

"Tidus!" Rikku yelled, but was held back by Nhadala.

"He's given us enough cover fire. Lets go!" she said.

Although Rikku was reluctant to leave Tidus, Nhadala's was the wiser head. She followed the latter's plan.

"Go! I'll stay with him until all of you are at the door!" ordered Auron as he too picked up heavy machineguns and started firing.

The group of ragged and exhausted soldiers and guardians made sprinted to the corridor, quite easy since all the fiend were dying at the hands of Tidus and Auron. When they reached the corridor, Rikku called back, "Auron!"

Auron nodded and stooped firing. He yelled to Tidus to stop and retreat, but Tidus was blinded with rage. He couldn't hear him.

Reluctantly, Auron used the blunt end of his No-Dachi to knock Tidus senseless. Then he carried Tidus onto his shoulder and made a break for the corridor. The made it just in time and Nhadala managed to close the door early enough so that the pursuing coyotes crashed headfirst into the steel door.

The group, shaken, exhausted and glad to have their lives, then swiftly retreated to the airship docks to report to Gippal. The door would no hold for long...

* * *

The atmosphere in the airship was tense. According to radar, the fiends were going to bust in through the door at any time. The heavy metal door was mighty, but every soldier knew that the strength of several thousand fiends was mightier. 

The airship's engines had not been used for too long and had to be warmed up, before they could become airborne. Meanwhile, the Al Bhed commanders had taken extra precautions to successfully hold out the fiends.

However, this time was very much different from the first. Firstly, the fiends were much lesser in number and were weaker; also, the opening was smaller, thus the Al-Bhed were confident that they could take down more fiends with less lead and thinking time.

Secondly, they now had an estimated time to hold out for, thus the soldiers morale could be raised easily, as they were all anxious.

Thirdly, the soldiers now were fighting for their survival. They were backed into the corner and had no way out. They had to fight desperately, and this usually increased their fighting abilities.

Every window or door had been converted into a gun port, occupied by one or more machine gunners, RPG troopers, or snipers. All guns were trained onto the single, pathetic door, less than two meters by one.

Every open space of the air ship was packed with machine guns, the deck, the balcony, the hood, everywhere where the simple three legged firing tripod could be placed, it was. (Kinda makes you wonder where they got all the guns)

Then, the fiends started pounding on the door. Then, even more joined in until depressions and dents were made on the surface. Every Al-Bhed soldier had his heart in his mouth. His stomach twisted in an icy knot. The entire place stank of fear, anxiety and sweat.

Then, the door gave way with a great crash and the fiends streamed in. A mighty war cry was raised from the Al-Bhed camp and hordes of bullets streaked towards the wave of fiends. The numerous machineguns were doing their job, and coupled with the lack of entry room, the fiends were cut down in droves.

Rockets slammed into their targets, exploding in great displays of phosphorus and sulphur fireworks. Five centimeter thick in diameter sniper bullets easily reduced fiends to swarms of pyreflies. The high caliber anti-aircraft guns easily mowed down the fiends and grenades assisted in crowd control.

The party also assisted the Al-Bhed. Lulu launched spell after spell while Wakka, overcoming his guilty conscience about using Machina, heaped grenades at them. Auron had dual machineguns blazing at full auto while Rikku used her minigun. Kimahri had not one, but two machine guns in each hand and had enough strength to aim them with accuracy in full auto. When he ran out of lead, he dropped the guns for the Al-Bhed to reload (Ronsos lack the dexterity to reload guns) and tossed several grenades with a single hand at the oncoming horde.

Then, Auron noticed three Guado Guardians approaching the ship. They had "Protect" spells cast on them, which protected them from the gunfire. He had heard several Al-Bhed soldiers say something about the "Great Sir Auron" and one had even asked for his autograph. Now was his chance to strut his stuff.

He leapt off the deck and swaggered towards them.

* * *

The three Guado guardians stopped in their tracks as the legendary Auron, Guardian of Lord Braska, swaggered towards them. The one with the nickname 'Sev', smirked. He had earned his nickname because once, during a raiding party on an Al Bhed militant outpost, he himself had scored 70 confirmed kills. 

Hence, 'Sev' represented his SEVenty kills.

Even if it was the 'Legendary Sir Auron' in front of them, he was just an old man. An old man waiting to be swept out of the way.

The Guado Guardian on his right, nickname 'Fixer' for his field medical skills, muttered, "It's him."

The Guado Guardian on his left, nickname 'Scorch' for a fire spell accident that left him without eyebrows for a time, continued Fixer's statement. "The unsent."

"Do we proceed?" Fixer asked.

"Yes." Scorch replied.

"He is still..." Sev cut off Fixer.

"Only human." Sev charged.

Auron raised an eyebrow at Sev. Shifting himself slightly to the left, he dodged Sev's poorly aimed punch and took the opportunity to grab his arm. Yanking on it brutally, Auron allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction as Sev screamed while his shoulder was violently dislocated.

Planting his No-Dachi into the ground, he kicked Sev across his back twice and hit him with a Bruce Lee-style punch, complete with wobbling fist and over-emphasized battle cries.

As the punch propelled Sev away from him, Scorch lunged forward. Auron dodged around Scorch and pushed him to the floor, causing him to fall flat on his face. Planting his foot on Scorch's back, Auron stomped, snapping his spine and causing a violent twitch in his left arm before finally lying still.

Auron turned around to look at Fixer, only to find that he wasn't there. Then, by pure instinct, he back flipped, dodging the viscous palm strike that had meant to snap his own spine.

Landing behind Fixer,Auron grabbed him by his neck and twisted it, breaking it with a very audible SNAP! Before Fixer even started to fall, Auron fired five palm thrusts of his own into Fixer's back in the blink of an eye.

AsFixer started to fall, Auron spun around and kicked him with the back of his heel, propelling him all the way to the other wall which he smashed into, leaving a rather visible indentation.

* * *

Auron stared at the dead bodies of the Guado Guardians. He then took a moment off to bask in the glory of his victory. He could already feel the number of fans of his increasing thanks to that spectacular display. 

Then, his victory celebration was cut short by an immense roar. The airship had finally come to life and was ready to take off.

"Sir Auron! Get on board now!" he heard someone yell.

Another chance to show off.

Leaping high into the air, he performed several somersaults, still carrying his No-Dachi, by the way, and landed smack onto the deck. The feat would have been perfect if he had landed on his feet instead of his head though.

With that, the hanger door opened and the airship bolted out like a bird released from a cage. Despite all the odds, the Al-Bhed survived, and despite all the odds, they will live on another day.

Their story has not yet ended.

* * *

Tidus and the party were gathered in the war room of the airship with Cid and his ranking officers for a strategy meeting. 

"Ok people, listen up," Cid started, "Our gratitude to the Guardians who helped us escape without lives, but now we have an even more important mission."

He motioned to Nhadala, who continued, "The sphere oscillo finder currently shows that Lady Yuna is being held at the temple of St. Bevelle. Our mission is to infiltrate Bevelle and reclaim the summoner. Well, actually, that's your job. We'll "tour" Bevelle and have some fun, you know."

There was silence across the room as the party digested the plan.

"It'll be hard, Bevelle's defenses are top-notch," commented Wakka, finally breaking the ice.

"Hello," replied Gippal, "We built that city, until they drove us out."

"What the..." Wakka wanted to protest, but glares form the Al-Bhed officers and his fellow Guardians stopped him.

"Anyway, I assure you, Sir Wakka, we are more than prepared for the fight," said Cid.

"What about Evare, Bevelle's guardian wurm?" questioned Lulu.

Suddenly, Tidus had a momentary flashback. He envisioned an immense dragon circling Bevelle. It was jet black and had a great wheel on its back. Its eyes glowed a demonic red and it's talons were a shiny silver. Atop its head rested two ivory horns, twisted and scarred from combat. His vision then started to blur, but a jab from Kimahri cleared it for him. He was back on board the airship.

A picture was being passed around the table of Evare. Though both beasts, the one in the flashback and in the one in the picture looked equally mighty, they bore many differences, which led Tidus to conclude they were different.

"Cid, what do you have to combat this wurm," asked Auron.

"You guys," was the immediate response, which drew hearty laughter from the Al-Bhed officers.

"Seriously," said Cid, "You'll see."

* * *

"All hand prepare for combat!" the PA system announced. 

Al-Bhed soldier scrambled from their bunks and reported to their respective stations. Today was the day that they assaulted the capital of their most hated enemy. This was their finest hour.

Payback time.

* * *

The party was on the deck of the airship eagerly awaiting combat. They all wanted to save Yuna and were as determined as ever. Then, an ear-piercing shriek echoed throughout the heavens and the great wurm swooped out from the clouds and confronted the airship. 

Tidus was formulating a strategy in his mind when he was rudely interrupted by the sounds of gears and hydraulics.

Shocked, he spun around and saw cannons of all sizes emerging from their gun ports, hidden to await usage. Machinegun nests were all trained onto the lone beast in the sky.

Then, an even louder sound drowned out the sounds of the gun ports opening. It was the sound of dozens of engines igniting at once. Then, in a synchronized motion, the sources of the noise zoomed out of the hanger, revealing themselves to the party as fighter planes. They stared to swarm around the airship, awaiting the order to fire.

* * *

In the bridge, Cid smiled to himself as he saw that the airship was in perfect working order. Bevelle would surely crumble under their might. Their time had come. 

He looked at the men around him and put a hand on Brother's shoulder. Then he picked up the radio and breathed one word into it.

"Fire."

* * *

Our sincerest apologies if the text appears bunched up, but it seems that QuickEdit has a few problems. And, if you can name us a chapter in a story that has more words in Al Bhed spoken than this one, we guarantee your money back! 


	13. The Battle of Bevelle

Disclaimer: I don't own anything...blah blah blah...

A/N: Master here. Sorry for the ultra slow updating...we're really busy now. Holiday homework, tuition, training etc etc etc... But there is a more important reason for the slow updating... Its the SAVIORS OF KAMIGAWA STREET RELEASE! WOOHOO! Me the marines were drafting Saviors that day, I got a Michiko, a Promise of Bunrei, a Infrenal Kirin, a Iname as One, a...(gets knocked out by Chief)

Chief here. Sorry about that, he goes nuts when stuff like that happens. Anyway...enough of us...go read...

Arbiter: Saviors! Saviors! Saviors! (Gets knocked out too)

* * *

Chapter 12: The Battle of Bevelle

The atmosphere in the temple was cheery and delightful. The entire of Bevelle and pilgrims from all over Spira had arrived to witness the historic wedding of Lord Seymour, Maester of Yevon, and Lady Yuna, daughter of Lord Braska.

Hawkers, taking advantage of the gathering, set up little stalls as children tugged on their parent's clothing, coaxing them to buy a sugar candy stick or a rag doll. Spiranians, young and old, perused the wares of local artisans, admiring the workmanship of a designer cloak, or haggling over the price of a commemorative "Lord Seymour: Will of Iron, Tongue of Silver, Heart of Gold" brass plate. (Pukes)

A harlequin dressed in red and white taunted passersby in a playful fashion. He imitated their movements through a dancing puppet. The creature seemed to have life of its own, only the strings gave it away.

It was a grand occasion and the temple was decorated with banners and streamers of all sorts. Balloons filled the skies and fireworks were going off. Nearby, a live band was playing "Live Free, Spira", a livelier version of the traditional march. People danced to the strain of flutes and lyres, music caressed the crowd and a smile was on everyone's face.

* * *

However, on the other side of Bevelle, less than a mile away: 

The entire district was engulfed with chaos as the Al-Bhed soldiers in the raiding party vented their anger accumulated over the years of being oppressed. Houses were sacked and then systematically destroyed by highly explosive grenades. Any pictures of the Maesters or the symbol of Yevon were brought to bonfires where they were incinerated as soldiers watched on with sadistic, perverted glee.

The raiding party had cut a bloody swathe of destruction through the city and the air was filled with the dust of a thousand wrecks and the smoke of a thousand fires. Beyond, the charred and horribly mutilated body of Evrae laid limp on the ground, a victim of the Al-Bhed's immense firepower and superior weaponry. It had gone down without much of a fight.

The bank of Bevelle's great vault doors, supposedly impenetrable, fell to the ground with a deafening crash as Al-Bhed soldiers dashed out, carrying sacks of gil, gold, jewels and other valuables. The bank alarm started wailing like a banshee in the cold north wind, but was quickly silenced by a well-place shot.

The Al-Bhed could have left the alarm on anyway. There was a mysterious lack of guards in the bank. Heck, there was a lack of surrendering civilians cowering at their feet, begging for mercy.

_Did those Yevon bastards plan an ambush? _Wondered Gippal, the leader of the party, as he blew up another building with a dual barreled rocket launcher.

A piece of paper floating in the air cleared his doubts. It read: "Attention. The wedding of Lord Seymour and Lady Yuna will be held at the Temple of Yevon. All must attend. Those who do not attend will be shot. Those who survive will be shot again."

_Well then, let's crash that party!_ He thought as he reduced another house to rubble.

When the dust cleared, he saw a tempting sight. The larger-than-life statues of the Maesters were surrounding a marble fountain where two stone lions wrestled playfully amidst the splashing water.

He felt his rage build up in him, and with a yell, he aimed at Kinoc's statue and fired, slicing his head clean off and reducing the rest of the body to gravel. He then aimed at Mika, but to his dismay, he had run out of rockets.

"Give me your weapon Corporal!" he yelled to a nearby soldier, who handed him a heavy machinegun. Delighted, he flicked the switch to "auto" and blasted ammo slugs at Mika. All that was left after a pounding of several hundred rounds was a heap of unrecognizable chunks.

He then shifted his attention to Seymour, the most hated of the four. He checked his utility belt for a grenade, but he was all out.

"Sergeant! Any more TNT?" he asked.

"No sir, but we do have remote detonated highly explosive astrolite demolition charges," replied the Sergeant.

"In English?" asked Gippal.

"TNT's bigger, badder cousin with a prison record."

"I'll take it," he said as the latter handed him the explosive.

He then clambered to the back of the statue and chipped a hole with his knife into Seymour's rear end. He then shoved the stick of dynamite up before taking cover and yelling, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

"Yup, the asshole!" one of the Al-Bhed soldiers yelled back. There was a wild burst of laughter before it was drowned out by the explosion.

When the explosion died down, all that was left was fine gravel, dust, smoke and laughter, from the Al-Bhed.

* * *

Seymour stood proudly. The warrior monks in ceremonial armors saluted to Yuna as she, escorted by bridesmaids and bodyguards, walked gracefully down the aisle. Yuna then reached Seymour, when she presented him with the bouquet she was carrying. 

The crowd was hushed as, in a synchronized action, everyone bowed to the couple as they prepared to take their vows. Then, a weird rattling sound was heard. By everyone. Even the priest had stopped his speech to investigate the cause of the sound. At once, everyone's attention was shifted to the door where marks started to appear. They seemed to be forming letters, which in turn formed words.

"It's a message from the spirits!" exclaimed Kinoc.

"Lord Seymour, you are certainly favored by the gods," praised the priest.

"Let us receive what the Gods have to say," said Mika, his old and hoarse, yet still booming voice, echoed throughout the crowd.

Excited, Seymour couldn't help but spell out the letters, "F-U-C-K Y-O-U. What does that spell?"

"I believe it's 'fuck you'," replied Mika.

"Huh!" Seymour muttered. He was confused at the message, but his thoughts would soon be cleared.

From beyond the door, a voice called out, "Hey bastards, Knock-knock!"

Yuna immediately perked up. She recognized that voice from home. It was Captain Gippal's.

A violent explosion tore the doors from their hinges. The crowd started to scream and yell, but did not run for the curiosity of finding out what was behind the doors. This decision would prove to be their undoing.

What greeted the crowd from beyond the cloud of dust was volleys of bullets of all calibers.

Panicked, the crowd bolted to run, but were quickly cut down in droves. Warrior monks rushed to meet the attackers, but they too were quickly overcome by the battle hardened veterans of the Al-Bhed raiding party. The warrior monk's armor consisted of bulky plates which offered protection from bullets. However, the Al-Bhed, learning from experience, wore lighter, more flexible battle armor. Besides, their high-caliber guns easily pierced the armor plates and sank into the soft flesh underneath.

The party also helped too, using their own weapons as well as machine weapons to pulverize the hapless Warrior Monks. Tidus, in particular, was having fun with a shotgun he found on the airship. He had practiced in the range on board the ship and now could fire and reload it effectively with one hand alone.

Suddenly, he noticed he was surrounded by Warrior Monks.

"Surrender! You're surrounded!" yelled their leader, but Tidus, defiant at ever, spun the shotgun around like a pair of nun-chucks eliminating all who surrounded him.

* * *

Meanwhile, a Warrior Monk was pouring lead into Auron's torso, only to see the legendary Guardian continue to approach. With two quick slices of his No-Dachi, Auron sliced off the Monk's breastplate. The Monk then grabbed Auron's undershirt and tore it, only to see the bullet wounds disappear in a swarm of pyreflies. 

"What the fuck are you?" the Monk asked, his lips quivering and his face pale.

"I'm complicated," replied Auron as he grabbed the Monk's neck and broke it.

* * *

From his hiding place in the shadows, Buddy gunned down another fleeing devotee, this one a priest. He took a moment to relish the memory of seeing the man's head blown into several bloody chunks before resuming his killing spree. 

Warrior Monks and Yevonite Mages stationed within the inner recesses of the temple heard the ruckus and hurried outside, and were met by the sight of the still-smoking corpses of their fellow warriors and civilians, and an enthusiastic-if somewhat thin-Al Bhed infantry assault.

Most were simply standing there, waiting for someone to tell them what to do, when the snipers' 14.5mm armor-piercing, fin-stabilized, discarding-sabot rounds began to cut them down. The impact was devastating. Buddy saw Soldier Monks, Flamethrower Monks, and Yevonite Mages alike throw up their arms and collapse as the rolling fusillade took its toll.

Most of the remaining Warrior Monks and mages had already been scared shitless by then, and hightailed it back into the relative safety of the temple. But a section of ceiling, already very loose from multiple explosions and shockwaves, was cut off from the rest of the ceiling when a sniper hit the spot that still attached it to the architecture. The monks and mages that were fleeing looked up just in time to see the ceiling crashing down on them.A second later they learned what it was like to have the sky fall on your head.

* * *

Lulu was confronted by several priests. There were garbed in white robes with wands and staves. Judging from the look of it, they were high priests, skilled in offensive and passive white magic. 

"Halt, Black Magic user! Your presence shall not be tolerated in this holy place! Yevon has show you kindness by not persecuting your kind. Leave now or we shall cleanse you!" their leader shouted.

"You underestimate the power of the dark side." Lulu replied ominously. Forks of lightning bolts started crackling around her hands. Some priests slunk back in hesitation.

Then, she attacked. Bolts lanced through the air and laced around the bodies of the priests. Lulu kept up this relentless magical assault until the priests had all been reduced to blackened skeletons, charred beyond recognition.

* * *

Rikku was charged with the mission of sneaking up and rescuing Yuna. However, she still had much difficulties as the place was bristling with guards. Then, she bumped into something. Warrior Monks. 

"This place isn't meant for little girls. Let uncle show you a thing or two about fighting,"said one Warrior Monk as he lunged forth.

He expected Rikku to attempt to dodge or block or something. But she didn't. Instead, she simply took out a pistol and shot him. Horrified at the sight, his partner turned to run, only to see Rikku dash in front of him, shoving her minigun in his face. The last thing he heard before he was blown to kingdom come was, "Only a little girl?"

* * *

Kimarhi was having fun. These humans were weak and slow. He easliy brushed past them as though there were nothing more than pieces of cardboard. Then, he spotted Wakka nearby. 

"Wakka! Pass!" he bellowed over the heat of the battle. Wakka obliged and handed him a spare Blitzball.

Kimarhi then slammed the ball home into a group of fleeing Monks, tripping them all over. The fallen Monks were quickly massacred by the Al-Bhed's fire.

"Not bad. You might wanna play for us some time," muttered Wakka.

* * *

Seymour was furious. How dare these Al-Bhed screw up his big day. Then, he noticed Kinoc picking up a rifle from a fallen Monk and aiming it at Yuna. Kinoc then yelled over the chaos of the massacre, "Stop now or the summoner gets it!" 

Tidus stabbed the Brotherhood and the Rebellion into two Warrior Monks when he noticed Kinoc at work. Pissed, he wrenched the swords out of their guts and charged at Kinoc, but a small group of warrior monks put themselves between him and his target. "GET OUTTA MY WAY!" he screamed. Instead of being intimidated and pulling back, one of the monks stepped forward and aimed at Tidus' head.

Sensing what was coming, Tidus darted slightly to his right, and the 7.62mm round missed his left ear with millimetres to spare. Feeling that slicing the warrior monks into byte-sized chunks would take too long, he decided to employ a new move that he'd been itching to try out.

Sheathing both the Brotherhood and the Rebellion, he launched himself into the air, straight at the lead warrior monk. Just as he nearly collided with the Yevonite, he flipped himself upside-down, grabbing the neck of the monk. As he put himself back on his feet using the Yevonite warrior as leverage, he also used his momentum to throw the monk forward.

The warrior monk's neck snapped very audibly, and his limp body was propelled forward into the clustered group of his comrades, where it impacted and threw them into severe disarray. In other words, the group of warrior monks were a tangled heap of limbs on the floor.

(A/N: That was Ryu Hayabusa's Guillotine Throw from Ninja Gaiden. Or you could say Dead Or Alive. Hence, by putting this in, I must say that I do not own Ninja Gaiden. Or DOA.)

With the Warrior Monks finally out of the way, Tidus resumed his furious charge, only to find the barrel of Kinoc's rifle shoved up his chin.

"Call off your troops!" Mika's booming voice echoed throughout the temple grounds.

Auron nodded to Gippal who started yelling orders to his troops. The Al-Bhed soldiers started to gather their equipment and their wounded (few wounded, none dead. Yevon sucks!). Slowly, they marched off. However, before that left, Gippal still had another trick to play. He reached for something on his belt.

"Hey Seymour! Catch!" he said as he tossed the object to Seymour. It was metallic and somewhat circular.

"Thanks! What is it?" asked Seymour, but Gippal didn't answer. He just turned to leave.

"Seymour!" said Kinoc, "It's a grenade! And its pin's been pulled out!"

"Argh!" yelled Seymour as he threw it to Kinoc.

"Not me!" said Kinoc as he threw it to Mika. Soon, the Maesters were having a game of 'pass the grenade' on stage. Finally, Kinoc had the brains to throw it up, where it exploded in a shower of streamers and sparkles. Then, a piece of paper floated gently to the ground.

It said "boom".

Feeling utterly embarrassed, Mika then turned to address Yuna and her Guardians, only to find that they had already escaped.

* * *

A/N: Lazy, so we'll skip ahead to when the party is sentanced to the Via Purifico Dungeon. 

"So, how fares the Ronso Maester?" asked Kinoc.

"He's like all of them, strong-willed, determined, has an overwhelming sense of justice and when we tell him to stay out of our affairs, he stays out," replied Mika.

"That's good, isn't it?" asked Seymour.

"Not really. We will need to dispose of him fast, in case he meddles in our affairs," replied Kinoc.

"Speaking of meddling, you won't find anymore troublesome meddlers than Yuna and her Guardians,"commented Mika.

"They're gonna die, why are we getting so worked up?" asked Seymour.

"They're strong, I don't trust the fiends in the dungeon," replied Mika, "Tell you what, Kinoc, dispatch a detail of Warrior Monks to guard each of the exits. Go with them so they don't slack off. Seymour, go too. Your talents will be put to great use."

"I don't think so, who would kill his bride, especially on his wedding day?" asked Kinoc.

"I would."

* * *

Kinoc was getting impatient. Here he was, reduced to a lowly sentry standing guard over the Via Purifico. It had been ten long years since he last stood here bearing a rifle. And he never liked it, not then and certainly not now. 

He needed to check with Seymour if contact had been made, so he pressed the button on his walkie-talkie, but all that came out were warped beeps and crackling. Frustrated, he ordered one of his subordinate Warrior Monks to go check on them.

Weirdly, he never returned.

Ten minutes had passed.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

Kinoc got even more impatient. He sent the other Monk to check on the first. He didn't return either. Kinoc got so damn pissed he nearly flipped. Then, he decided to go himself. _After all, if you want something done right, do it yourself._

* * *

Kinoc was starting to regret leaving his post. The corridor's were misty and dark, the perfect place for a ghost story to take place. The dim ceiling lights didn't help either. 

Then, the near predictable happened. The lights went out.

Kinoc groped around in the pitch darkness. He couldn't see five feet in front of him. Heck, he couldn't even see his own two feet.

He tried to comfort himself ny repeating the following lines, "You're a Maester, you can't die. You're a Maester, you can't die."

Then, he tripped over something round.

Startled, he fell to the floor. Then, he went in for a closer look. It was metallic, and was tinged a deep red. He slowly turned it around, and saw that it was the head of the first Monk he had dispatched.

Majorly freaked, he scrambled back into another round thing. Not learning his lesson, he picked it up, only to realise it was the other Monk's head!

He gave a yelp of shock with horror and turned around to run, only to bump into another thing.

This thing, however, was metallic. It was also very big.

_Uh oh..._ (Guess who...)

* * *

Seymour was getting impatient. Here he was, reduced to a lowly sentry standing guard over the Via Purifico.It had been ten long years since he last set his eyes on this place. And he never liked it, not then and certainly not now. 

He needed to check with Kinoc if contact had been made, so he pressed the button on his walkie-talkie, but all that came out were warped beeps and crackling. Frustrated, he ordered one of his subordinate Warrior Monks to go check on them.

Weirdly, he never returned.

Ten minutes had passed.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

Seymourgot even more impatient. He sent the other Monk to check on the first. He didn't return either.Seymour got so damn pissed he nearly flipped. Then, he decided to go himself. _After all, if you want something done right, do it yourself_

* * *

Seymour was starting to regret leaving his post. The corridor's were misty and dark, the perfect place for a ghost story to take place. The dim ceiling lights didn't help either. 

Then, the near predictable happened. The lights went out.

Seymour groped around in the pitch darkness. He couldn't see five feet in front of him. Heck, he could'nt even see his own two feet.

He tried to comfort himself ny repeating the following lines, "You're a Maester, you can't die. Heck, you're dead already."

Then, he saw a pale, ghostly shade in front of him. But he came prepared. From his belt he whipped out a small torch.

The beam revealed that it was only Kinoc.

Heaving a sigh of relief, he relaxed and said, "So, its just you, I thought there was a ghost or something like that. To think I even thought it killed you-"

Seymour was cut off by a gruesome sight. A small trickle of blood started to flow down Kinoc's cheek. The trickle soon became an all-out cascade. Then, Kinoc collapsed, revealing his assailant.

It was the big bad wolf from Macalania Temple.

Seymour let out a high pitched shriek loud enough to wake the dead and let loose several "Firaga" spells.

But when the smoke and chaos all died down, the "wolf" had already left.

* * *

"Damn...the fiends were the easy part, but they didn't tell us about the guards!" complained Rikku. 

"Relax, we'll wait for a opening and surprise them," said Tidus.

"That'll be easy when they got rifles and we got," she glanced at Tidus' swords, "Pieces of metal."

"They're like a part of me! Don't insult them," Tidus retorted.

"Hey guys, check it out, I think Lady Luck's on our side today after all," said Wakka. Rikku and Tidus peered at the exit to see the Monks walk off. They were changing shifts! Delighted, the trio darted out of the exit. Then, Rikku took a wierd turn.

"Where you going?" asked Wakka.

"Don't ask, just follow," was his reply.

They came to a large door with some words written on it in Al-Bhed. Tidus flipped through his dictionary, then slammed it shut with a smile on his face.

"Dang, you're good," he muttered.

The sign said "Armory".

* * *

Rikku was like a kid in a candy store, dashing from shelf to shelf helping herself to arms and ammo. She had never seen an armory this big. Although the one in the airship had more varieties of guns, this was bigger. 

Wakka was helping himself to grenades and more grenades. He had fallen in love with them and, though he hated Machina, he, as mentioned with the vending machine, made exceptions.

Tidus however, found himself drawn to a hallway in the back of the armory. It was the hall of fame and the walls were decorated with glass cases containing famous weapons used by the Crusaders or the Warrior Monks. They ranged from immense rocket launchers to small sidearms. However, Tidus didn't care about them. He was attracted to the steel box mounted on the pedestal at the end of the hallway.

On the box was a brass plate that said "Ebony and Ivory". Below it, there was another brass plate describing how and when they were found.

It said"Found in Zanarkand pits. Earliest known type of Machina weapon known ever to be constructed. Found in 5 A.Y.(Meaning After-Yunalesca) Carvings on the guns read 'Ebony and Ivory'. Carvings seem to indicate names of the guns rather than their types. Seems to be a modified variant of the Desert Eagle."

Curious, Tidus just had to open the box. He tried to fumble with the lock, but it was shut dead.

"Whoa...they certainly did some refurbishing. This place isn't on my map!" commented Rikku as she entered with Wakka.

"Hey Rikku, mind helping me open this lock?" asked Tidus.

"Sure," she replied as she tried to use a hairpin to pick the lock, but to no avail.

"On Besaid, there's only one way to open a lock, at that is to," Wakka slammed his Blitzball into the case, and probably by luck, it opened.

Concealed inside the chest were two nearly identical handguns, one black and the other silver. Like the Rebellion, Tidus had a great feeling of Deja Vu. He had definitely seen, and probably wielded these guns before. Slowly picking them up from their resting places in the chest, he cradled them in his hands. Sticking both index fingers into the trigger guards, he suddenly had another flashback. This time, it was one of his fifteenth birthday.

* * *

-Start Flashback- 

In front of him was Jecht. He was presenting to Tidus a dull package. Where his mother was, Tidus had no idea. All that he knew was that it was just him and his father. "I bought these for you. I know you've always wanted one,so here's a little repentance for all the times that I've neglected you." Jecht told him.

Tidus bit back the urge to sneer at his father as he ripped open the package. But inside, he found what was beyond his wildest hopes. In the package were, not one, but TWO handguns, one waspure black, the other a shiny silver.

"You like 'em?" Jecht asked him, grinning.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" Tidus said hoarsely. "It's like love at first sight."

"You gonna name 'em?" His father asked, the hard look on his face softening a bit.

Tidus grinned like a kid who had just received a new toy. "Ebony and Ivory." He said.

End Flashback-

* * *

And just like that, the flashback ended. Tidus suddenly found himself with a monster headache. Dropping the handguns, he clutched at his head, trying to soothe the pain that was splitting his head apart like a wedge. Rikku noticed Tidus kneeling on the ground and hurried over. 

"You alright?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Tidus nodded and slowly got up, picking up the two handguns that he vaguely recalled christening 'Ebony and Ivory'.

Something was wrong about that flashback. Seriously wrong. For starters, he could recall his fifteenth birthday very vividly, and he remembered that his mother was present. Furthermore, he also remembered that his old man had NEVER bought him anything. Hell, Jecht wouldn't even buy Tidus a toothpick!

And yet, with a certainty that he could not explain, Tidus knew that the flashback was real. But how could it be real when it, well... wasn't real? It had never happened. Tidus chucked the thought back in the hindmind for later debate. Right now, he had a more critical objective. Get the hell outta here.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tidus said as he walked over to the closed armory door and kicked it open, twirling his newfound handguns on his fingers.

Rikku turned to Wakka. "What's gotten into him?"

Wakka shrugged.

* * *

"Halt!" yelled one of the Warrior Monks on duty. Both him and his partner had their rifles leveled at the trio's chests. 

"Oh! I know this game! Its..." the three of them whipped out their weapons that were barely concealed behind their backs, "...See who has more guns."

The Warrior Monks' look of terror was still fixed onto their faced even when cut down by an overwhelming storm of lead.

* * *

The trio were engaged in a fierce firefight with another squad of Monks, this one larger and better equipped. Tidus realised that they had to press on or the Monks' backup would arrive, so he leapt into the crossfire and charged. 

The Monk's then shifted their firepower towards him, but using expert dexterity developed over years as a Blitzer, he easily deflected the oncoming bullets with his dual swords. He was closing the gap rapidly and would soon be able to revel in the spray of Warrior Monk blood. However, a stray shot hit him home in the shoulder and he dropped the Rebellion before dropping to his knees, clutching the bleeding wound.

"Your leader's down! Surrender!" shouted the Squad Leader.

_Since when was he our leader?_ thought Rikku as she stacked her guns in a pile with Wakka's.

"Take them awa-" the leader of the Monks wasn't given a chance to finish his sentance. Something had violently bitten his head off from the back. Something big. Very big.

The rest of the squad turned back, only to see a gargantuan claw swiping towards them. They didn't even scream as the razor-sharp claws mutilated their bodies.

Tidus looked up and saw an immense dragon. It look almost identical to the beast he had seen in his flashback, but it's colour and size didn't match. It also did not radiate an "evil" aura the former had.

Yuna then appeared from the shadows behind the dragon with Auron, Lulu and Kimarhi. Upon seeing Tidus, she ran toward him and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're ok," she choked out, holding back tears.

"As long as you are fine," he replied.

"Don't wanna interrupt your romance, but we got company!" yelled Rikku.

"Leave them to me!" yelled Lulu as she geared up for another "Thundaga" attack.

Lightning bolts fried the Monks alive in their armors as their tortured screams slowly died down.

"Lets get outta this godforsaken place!"

* * *

The party was sprinting across the Highbridge at near breakneck speed when they were confronted by an old enemy, and his sidekick. 

"Thought you could escape from me the last time didn't you? Well today you won't! Me and Pooky (His teddy bear, just in case your memory's failing) will stop you this time!" said Seymour.

"Let's get him-" Tidus started, but was cut off by Auron.

"He's only a decoy, soon this place will be swarming with Monks! Let's just bash past him and get outta here!" yelled Auron.

Kimarhi stepped forth.

"Leave him to me," he said, his voice calm and composed, like he always was.

"But-" Yuna was cut off.

"Let's go! Now! That's all the time we need!" Lulu yelled back.

Reluctantly, the party left the noble Kimarhi behind.

"Awww...the poor little Ronso got left behind, so sad," said Seymour sarcastically.

"You shall now see the true strength of Ronso," replied Kimarhi as his eyes turned blue and great balls of blue energy laced around his hands.

Blades jutted out of his left wrist(Yup.Wristblades)and his Spirit Lance crackled with bright blue energy.

Seymour knew at once he had picked the wrong guy to mess with.

* * *

"I still don't like it," said Yuna. 

"Like what?" asked Tidus.

"Leaving Kimarhi behind," replied Yuna.

"Neither do I," said Wakka.

"Me too," Rikku added on.

"Ok! Spiranians, democracy, we vote!" said Lulu, "Those for?"

All except Auron's hands shot up.

"Sorry Auron, you are outvoted," chuckled Lulu as she started sprinting back.

* * *

When the party reached the battle scene, they were greeted by an unexpected sight. Hundreds of Warrior Monks lay limp on the ground. They had either severe burns or were bleeding profusely from spear wounds. 

In the center of the great circle of death lay the leader of them all.

Seymour had the Spirit Lance jutting out of his torso. And perched atop it was none other than the cause the mess. Kimarhi.

Then, in one smooth fluid motion, Kimarhi leapt off the tip of the Lance and grabbed it in between his feet. He then raised a huge ball of blue, crackling plasma energy above his head.

After gathering much more energy and increasing the blob of plasma energy tenfold in size, Kimarhi slammed the huge ball back down onto the Highbridge, causing a great flash bright enough to be seen from Mount Gagazet.

When the flash finally died down, all that was left was a battered and subdued Seymour who, surprisingly, was still standing.

Mischeviously, Kimarhi poked Seymour in the stomach gently with the Spirit Lance. Seymour gave a weird coughing sound before disintegrating into a heap of ashes.

Satisfied with his "work", Kimarhi slowly turned around to see the party, who were staring at him and standing abnormally still, like stone statues.

"What?"

* * *

A/N: Chief here. Those two are still out cold, so i guess although its the Master' chapter, I guess I gotta do the ending part...Seymour gets owned by an ultra-pumped Kimarhi, Kinoc FINALLY gets nuked and the Yevonites get their just desserts. What to expect next? I dunno, so don't ask. 

This is the Chief, signing out.

Arbiter: Saviors! Saviors! Saviors!


	14. The NotSo Calm Lands

Disclaimer: Ok…ok…I'll do it…I don't own FFX, Predator or anything we ripped off either blatantly of subtlety…Happy?

A/N: Ah, don't you love the great outdoors. I love the Calm Lands. It's full of chocobos and fiends and mini games (in FFX-2 that is) and, the stupid Caladborg quest…

Anyway, many thanks for the reviews. To DragonEtenal, points taken, thanks for the review. Enough of me, go read.

* * *

Chapter 13: The Not-So Calm Lands

The party had been running for the entire night, but once they reached the vast expanse of grassland, they knew it was safe. After all, who would chase them all the way there? The Yevonites would probably be mourning the dead or something like that anyway.

"Whoa! What is this place?" asked Rikku.

"The Calm Lands, a vast grassland where summoners would do battle with Sin after receiving the final Aeon," a familiar voice called from behind.

"Maechen!" called Yuna as she ran to greet him.

"Ah, my lady summoner, I'm glad you are safe. I heard the rumors, but I couldn't believe them. I had to come check myself," the grey-bearded old man replied.

"Unfortunately, they are," started Lulu, "We fought with the Al-Bhed and attacked the temple of St. Bevelle."

She was about to go into greater detail and defend their actions when Maechen's emotionless face broke into a smile.

"Standing up for you own beliefs and not doing what others are. How brave, how bold. I salute your courage, Yuna of Besaid. I knew you were something special when I first saw you," he said, "Now if you'll-"

Maechen was cut off when he noticed Tidus' new handguns.

"Those are Ebony and Ivory, no?" he asked.

"Huh? How'd you know? I thought the Warrior Monks' armory was out of bonds to everyone?" questioned Tidus.

"I saw them a long long time ago son," replied Maechen, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go. You have my blessings and prayers, all of you. Farewell, good luck and Yevon go with you."

The party looked on as the wizened old man disappeared into the distance. Then, they too went on their way, with Tidus brooding silently what the old man had told him.

* * *

The immense roar of the hovercraft's twin 500 horsepower turbofan engines died down and the party disembarked, to be greeted by an old acquaintance, Rin. 

"My lady summoner, it is good to see you," said Rin in a warm tone as he spread him arms to embrace her.

"I heard about home Rin, my condolences are with your, no, our kinsmen," replied Yuna.

"If your mother sees you now, she'll be proud of you. You remind me of her," said Rin.

"Back to the point Mr. Rin, have you any news about the Al-Bhed who attacked Bevelle in order to save me?" asked Yuna.

"Yes. They are re-supplying over yonder," he pointed to the edge of the Calm Lands, where it met the great Mt. Gagazet, "Commander Cid's representative just left a few moments ago. He brought me a report. Would you like to see it?"

"Certainly," replied Yuna.

"This way please," said Rin as he led her into the Agency.

The party was about to follow when a voice called from behind.

"If it isn't Wakka and Lulu!"

They spun around to see a man with bright eyes and crisp, dark curls of hair around the shaved crown of his head. He bore the attire of a senior priest, and carried a great staff decorated with jewels of many sorts.

"Father Zuke!"

Lulu and Wakka rushed over to greet their old friend. Zuke then turned his attention to Yuna, who just emerged from the Agency.

"Yuna of Besaid, daughter of High Summoner Braska. I have here a warrant for your arrest, though I did not expect someone of your prestige to be so young and tender," started Zuke.

"Father Zuke, I have heard of you, quite a reputation has you, though I was expecting you to be, taller," replied Yuna.

For a few seconds, the atmosphere was tense and Wakka and Lulu, knowing Zuke's true identity, expected a fierce fight between Aeons. However, Zuke's stern glare broke to that of a soft one.

"I have no intention of fighting you though. I leave the dirty work to my subordinates. But, on account of my friends traveling with you, I must warn you. Bevelle is on high alert now. I advise you to stay away," with that, he turned on his heel and left, disappearing behind a hill.

"Who was that?' asked Tidus.

"Father Zuke. I and Wakka used to be his Guardians. But he gave up on his pilgrimage here, choosing to be a priest instead. He used his power to summon Aeons on the many fronts that Yevon is fighting, although I heard from some Monks that he was away when we busted in," said Lulu.

The party then proceeds into the Agency to rest their journey-weary bodies.

* * *

A/N: Meanwhile… 

Zuke was walking along. He liked that Yuna girl's resolve, her boldness and her determination. He was also impressed by her quick mind and sharp tongue. He decided to tell Maester Mika that they didn't proceed this way. They probably returned to the Thunder Plains or had tried to use a sea bound route.

Then, he felt a presence behind him. It emitted a great aura of strength and was extremely big. This was no ordinary fiend.

Whirling around, he let loose a fury of holy bolts at the fiend.

Thinking he destroyed it, he was about to walk off when he felt its presence again.

It wasn't dead. It was very much alive.

It was also pissed.

* * *

A/N: Back at the Agency. 

Wakka was about to take a sip of his tea when he heard a faint scream of terror and anguish. He put his cup down and looked out the window, but saw no one, only a few run-on-the-mill fiends prancing about.

He turned to Lulu, who was seated next to him. They were the closest to the window.

"Did you here that scream?" asked Wakka.

Lulu nodded, but Tidus said, "It's your stomach screaming for more food. Now hurry up and eat."

"It sounded like Zuke," he whispered to Lulu.

"I agree, but it can't be him. He's too strong for the fiends here…"

(A/N: Due to increased scrutiny on Dachande's killing spree, I refuse to comment whether it was him or not. You decide by yourself.)

* * *

"Thanks for the chocobos!" yelled Yuna to Pia, the breeder, who had lent them the chocobos to escape from the Yevonites who were hot on their heels. 

"Don't mention it!" she replied.

She then led here chocobo flock back towards the corral next to the agency.

However, halfway, all her birds started to squawk loudly and grew restless. The started shifting their feet and bucked slightly. Pia was having a hard time controlling them. She tugged on the reins and yelled at them, but the normally placid birds refused to listen.

Then, they snapped.

The birds all bucked wildly and bolted in different directions in a flurry of yellow blurs. Even the skilled Pia was bucked off. Something big was around, something that they were scared out of their wits off. She scanned for a chocobo eater, but there was none. Getting up and dusting herself, she called to the Al-Bhed in the Agency, which was nearby.

The Al-Bhed, eager to help one of their friends, scrambled for their speeders and chased down the chocobos. However, in the confusion, Pia noticed a strange shroud glistening in the sun.

Then, as quickly as it appeared, it vanished into thin air, hard to imagine for a creature of its size.

(A/N: Now this was him alright, but he didn't kill anyone.)

* * *

A/N: Skipping ahead to Mt. Gagazet, snowy homes of the mighty Ronso tribe. 

"Halt!" Kelik Ronso's voice boomed across the mountain.

"Traitors of Yevon shat not pass!" said Biran, the tribe's champion.

"Turn back immediately or we shall crush you," said his right hand man, Yenke.

"We are not traitors! We merely did what was right!" said Yuna.

"Lady Yuna. It pains me that one like you has turned traitor, you are by far the most powerful summoner I have seen, yet you ally yourself with ruffians and criminals! To think you even killed Maester Kinoc!" said Kelik.

"I did not such thing. Now get out of the way and lets us through, or we shall use force," replied Yuna sternly, her voice full of authority.

"You underestimate the Ronso! We have you surrounded, yet-"Biran was cut off by Kelik.

"Why do you wish to cross this mountain? Are you continuing on you pilgrimage?" asked Kelik.

"Yes. I am getting to Zanarkand one way or another. Even if I have to wipe out all the Ronso, or fall beneath your numbers, my will is set. I will get there!" replied Yuna again, this time even more aggressively.

"Why? Why do you persist? Could it be for fame, popularity, money? Who do you fight, tell me why?" yelled Kelik, the mountain shook, as though humbled by the Ronso Elders string words.

"I fight," she turned to look at the party, "Because I choose to. Because everyday, another person dies because of Sin! Everyday, another child loses his mother! Everyday, another mother loses her son in the fight against Sin! Everyday is filled with the mourns and cries for the dead! Why? Because Sin is there. I will tolerate this no longer. I will destroy Sin, even if it's only for a few years, even if I have to lay down my life, I will defeat it."

"Such determination…Very well! You shall pass!" He motioned to the gatekeepers, who opened the immense stone gates, "I was not wrong about you. The daughter if Braska is strong. We Ronso shall stop the pursuers from the temple! For honor, for glory! For Spira."

A great cheer erupted from the Ronso surrounding the party. They were chanting out Yuna's name.

Yuna then turned around to face the party. Her face softened to a smile.

All in the party were awestruck at her speech. All except Auron. Braska was right. His daughter did have something special.

* * *

The party was climbing up the steps beyond the gate, when they heard footsteps. 

"Wait!" a voice called out. They spun around to see it was Biran and Yenke, Kimarhi's rivals.

"Summoner Yuna may pass, Guardians may pass, but Kimarhi may not pass!" said Biran.

"If Kimarhi wants to pass, he must defeat us!" continued Yenke, as the two of them drew out immense halberds, over 12 feet long in length.

"Very well! Kimarhi shall show you the strength Kimarhi has gained!" yelled Kimarhi.

Whipping out the Spirit Lance, he spun it above his head at a great speed, while shouting a mighty war cry.

Then, he lowered it to chest level. His eyes turned a luminous blue and the Lance started crackling with blue energy. Razor sharp blades which glistened on the sun jutted out his left wrist, and his entire left hand started to blow a bright blue.

"Yes that's it Kimarhi! Show us the power you have gained!" yelled Yenke.

With a mighty shout, the three Ronso leapt at each other.

Biran took the first strike, intent on impaling Kimarhi in midair. But Kimarhi expertly dodged and placed a hand on the formers spear. He then used it to push himself skyward, dodging Yenke's Thrust Kick Attack.

Kimarhi gave a shout and loosed a volley of plasma bolts onto the two Ronso warriors. Dust and smoke kicked up, but from behind the smoke came a volley of lightning, ice, fire and water attacks. The two Ronso had apparently used Mighty Guard to shield them from his barrage.

Still in midair, Kimarhi spin his lance at a 180 degree angle in front of him, effectively blocking all the attacks. He then, aided by the force of gravity, slammed down spear-first into the ground, creating a huge depression but missing his opponents who had jumped away just in time.

Biran then used his Bulldoze attack, trying to slam Kimarhi with his head, but Kimarhi expertly dodged and kneed him in the stomach. Biran let off a painful grunt before stumbling to the ground.

Eager to avenge his partner, Yenke charged forth and launched several blows of the spear. However, Kimarhi parried them all both Ronso were exchanging blows at a rapid rate. But Kimarhi had another weapon. He extended his wrist blades and gave Yenke, who was caught off guard, two deep cuts on the arm.

Yenke backed off for a while, when casted White Wind to restore vitality. The cuts slowly disappeared. Distracted by Yenke, Kimarhi did not notice Biran sneaking up from behind. The latter kicked Kimarhi in the back, causing him to roar in pain. Taking the chance, Yenke slammed the blunt of his halberd into Kimarhi's head.

Reeling in pain, Kimarhi was unable to defend himself as Biran and Yenke mercilessly impaled his shoulders with their spears and drove him to a cliff. They slammed him onto the wall real hard, and then backed off.

"Kimarhi improve, but still not strong enough," said Biran.

"Biran ain't seen nothing yet," replied Kimarhi as he slowly got up despite his two massive shoulder wounds.

To his rival's utter horror, his wounds started to close in on themselves. Then, Kimarhi gripped his Spirit Lance more firmly.

"Let's Rock!"

Kimarhi gave a cry and charged forth swinging his lance at Biran. The latter tried to parry, but to his horror, his spear shattered.

Kimarhi then turned his attention to Yenke. He slammed his lance into Yenke, who was able to dodge. Then, Kimarhi disappeared.

"Huh?" muttered Yenke.

"Behind you," came a voice.

Yenke turned to see a charging Kimarhi. He brought up his spear to parry, but like Biran's, it too shattered.

Kimarhi then gave both Ronso Warriors a mighty push, slamming them into the cliff wall that they had slammed him a few minutes before. He then roared and charged a plasma bolt, intent on vaporizing them. However, he realized that they were his own kin, not fiends.

He relented and the bolt dissolved into atoms.

Biran then got up with a smile on his face. Yenke also got up. He too was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. They walked towards Kimarhi and gave him a bear hug.

"Kimarhi grow strong, Brian and Yenke very proud," said Biran. He then turned to face the peak of the mountain and bellowed, "Sacred Mount Gagazet! Hear me! There is a warrior that has bested Biran this day! And his name his Kimarhi!"

All the Ronso who had gathered to watch the fight started to cheer and soon the mountain was full of their cheers. Even Kelik was cheering. Then, when it finally died down, Biran winked his eye mischievously and nodded to the crowd.

"Hornless! Hornless! Hornless!" they roared before collapsing to the ground and roaring with laughter.

* * *

The party was climbing up the steep slopes of Gagazet when Rikku tapped on Tidus' shoulder. She nodded to him and they both started to lag behind. 

"What should we do? After this it's Zanarkand already, but we don't have a plan," she said.

"Don't worry, I'll think of one, even if it means dragging Yuna out of there, I'll do it. After all, it ain't over till it's over," replied Tidus.

"You know what? You sounded like a leader there just now," commented Rikku.

"Star player of the Zanarkand Abes," replied Tidus as he struck a pose.

"Ah ha," said Rikku as she bowed.

Then, a voice from behind startled the both of them.

"It's been awhile, son of Jecht."

Acting on impulse, Tidus whipped out Ebony and Ivory and aimed then at the source of the voice, who was none other than Seymour.

"Rikku, get Auron," said Tidus, "I'll hold till you guys return."

Rikku wanted to protest, but decided Tidus' was the wiser head. She turned around and scurried into the distance.

"Son of Jecht, my my your courage impresses me, although it's clear you will die here by my hands," said Seymour.

"Come and get some bitch!" replied Tidus, causing Seymour to go red in the face.

"Save some for Kimarhi!" called a familiar voice.

Tidus turned to see the party arriving just in time.

"Ah, the Ronso. Yours was a valiant race. They tired to bar my entry and jumped at me one after another, but they all fell to me," said Seymour ominously.

"You kill Kimarhi's friends, you shall pay!" roared Kimarhi as his eyes started to glow bright blue. Remembering his experience at Bevelle, Seymour cowered away in fear.

"Can we stop this dialogue and just fight?" asked Rikku.

"Um… ok," said Seymour as he produced a small device from his pocket. He then pressed a button and the entire mountain started to shake. The immense roaring of twin jet engines was heard from beyond the side of Gagazet.

From beyond the cliff emerged a great Machina weapon, glistening in the sun. It had rocket launchers and cannons everywhere. To say it was armed to the teeth would be an understatement. The only problem was, it was pink and in the shape of a giant teddy bear.

"Meet Mini-Pooky," said Seymour as he took his teddy bear from his robes.

"But isn't that thing bigger than Pooky?" asked Wakka.

"That's not the point…now," Seymour turned around and tried to climb up the leg of the immense Machina to the cockpit, in the chest. However, he nearly lost his grip and fell many times and, despite the party's shouts of encouragement, he still took half an hour to get to the cockpit.

Now that he was in the cockpit, he grabbed the joysticks and flicked a few buttons. All the guns were trained on the party, who were already ready for combat. He loved this thingy. It was a really cool toy, and it was pink, his favorite color. The only problem was that it vibrated a lot (because of the engines).

Then, it stopped vibrating.

Seymour felt more comfortable now. He grasped the joysticks and was about to pull the triggers when he noticed a red light flashing on his dashboard.

"What does 'out of gas' mean?" he asked.

The answer came instantly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH," yelled Seymour as he and is monstrous contraption plummeted to the ground like a leaden weight.

Cautiously, Tidus crept towards the cliff's edge and yelled, "Hello?"

His voice echoed down the cliff before hearing a weird "Splut".

"That was easy."

* * *

A/N: Oh well…poor Seymour. How'd you like the Kimarhi fight scene? More action than the previous one anyway. Zuke gets toasted too, but I wonder by what? 

Anyway, on a sad note, this story will be ending soon; we plan to write no more that 5 more chapters. Oh well, every story has to end somewhere. Sorry if it seems a little rushed. I typed this at the airport after my plane got delayed. Keep reviewing anyway!

P.S.: A little spoiler…the next 2 to 3 chapters will absolutely either make or break the entire story.

This is the Master, signing out.


	15. Raising Hell

Disclaimer: Fire in the hole! Blows up Disclaimer

A/N: This is one of the more critical chapters in the story. More hints to Tidus' clouded past will be revealed, and a little twist occurs here that leads the story in a rather different direction than the game went.

* * *

Chapter 14: Raising Hell

The sky was a deep velvet black, and the many stars shone like glittering crystals on it. Yuna knew that this was her last chance to see such a beautiful sight. After this, there was no turning back.

The final leg of her journey. The last chapter in her story.

"Yuna! Snap out of it and keep up!"a voice yellingin an aggravated tone snapped her back to reality. Realizing she was lagging quite far behind the party, she quickened her pace and uttered a hurried apology before scurrying to catch up.

Soon, they reached the temple. Or at least, what was left of it. Suddenly, an elderly-looking man came out of the shadows.

"Traveler from afar. State your name." He said to Yuna.

"I am Summoner Yuna of the Isle of Besaid."

"Look into my eyes, child." Yuna complied.

"You have traveled many leagues and suffered much hardship." He stated after staring into Yuna's eyes for a while. "But now, look. The great temple of Zanarkand lies before you. Your journey ends here. Now come. Let me bring you to a place where you can rest your weary bodies."

He led them to a small sitting area. Just as he turned to leave, he noticed a familiar-looking sword sheathed on somebody's back.

Turning around for a better look, he recognized it.

It was the Rebellion.

Only one person had ever wielded that sword in his time, and that person was the son of the Legendary Jecht, Fist of Zanarkand.

And the Rebellion was mounted on somebody he also recognized. The very same person still wielded it. But how could he still be… It had been 10000 years!

"That is… the Rebellion, no?" He hesitantly asked Tidus.

Tidus nodded.

"What's it to you?" Tidus asked him.

"It… never mind. I must be on my way now." The old man hurriedly departed from the room, leaving a sleeping party and a confused Tidus.

* * *

Tidus was baffled past the point of being baffled. How come nobody of his generation knew of the Rebellion and Ebony & Ivory, but all the old geezers he met recognized them? He didn't have time to brood over this. Right now, he had to come up with a plan to save Yuna. He couldn't let her die. The only way she was going to die would be dying _with_ him. 

If nothing else worked, he would have to grab her and run off. Tidus continued racking his brains, but all he drew was an empty blank.

_Goddamnit! Why does it have to be this way? Why does she have to die? I can't let her do it. I have to save her! _Tidus thought to himself. But no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't think of something.

Pulling at his hair in utter furstration, he searched for something to vent his anger on. Picking up a rusty metal cabinet, he flung it at the flimsy wall, producing a sound effect that was music to his ears. He stormed off in search of glass to break-an even better sound-leaving behind a party that had been frightened out of sleep by his little tantrum.

* * *

A/N: The stupid Cloister of Trials...In the game, I just wished I could blow down the freaking door. Now I can. 

Rikku stared at the shut door that stood before the party and its goal. Normally, Rikku would have enthusiastically volunteered to blow it up with plenty of C4 explosives. But now, she lied to the party, insisting that she had run out of demolition charges.

"Quit lying. We know you have some of it in your pockets. You're always dying to blow something up." Auron said.

"Honestly, Auron. I'm out. No explosives." Auron countered that statement by grabbing Rikku's ankles, hanging her upside down and shaking her like a rag doll. Tons and tons of C4 explosives tumbled out of her pockets.

"Out of charges my ass." Hauling all 57 C4 charges towards the door, Auron set them all on 10-second fuses and scurried back to cover.

4.

3.

2.

1.

_**BAAAAAA-OOOOOOOMMMMM!**_

When the dust cleared and the debris stopped falling, the party stepped out cover and admired the ten-foot-wide and twenty-foot-tall hole that Auron had created.

Stepping onto the lift in the next room, they moved on to the chamber of the fayth.

They were greeted with a spectaclar sight. Lady Yunalesca herself strode out of the chamber of the Fayth, her long flowing white hair touching the ground, with Pyreflies dancing around her.

"Welcome child. Your journey is now over, daughter of Braska. But before it ends, you must choose," said the unsent.

"Choose what?" asked Yuna.

"Who shall be chosen as the Fayth for the Final Aeon?" Yunalesca asked.

"I thought...but the textbook said..." Yuna was obviously too stunned for words.

"Do you honestly believe all the scripture says? Mind you, more than half of it is bullshit the Bevellians made up. I will be waiting in the next room. Come look for me when you have made a decision," with that, Yunalesca turned on her heel and left.

"My gosh, how did it turn out like this?" asked Yuna, her eyes brimming with tears.

Wakka and Lulu stepped forward.

"I'll do it." They said at the same time before throwing strange looks at each other.

"I'll do it." Kimhari stepped forward. "Kimhari willing to sacrifice for Yuna. Kimhari willing to sacrifice to bring peace to Spira."

"There has to be another way!" Tidus cried out, having bottled up his frustration for so long, "This isn't a movie or some fanfiction where there's only one way through! There has to be another way! I'll go ask that bitch again."

MCA: It isn't?

"And what if there isn't another way?" Auron asked quietly.

"Then death will be my apology! I'll be the final aeon." The whole room went quiet at this. Yuna was the first to speak.

"Tidus, I..." Tidus cut her off.

"Don't try to stop me Yuna. If you're gonna die, I'll die with you." Tidus stated so firmly that Yuna didn't protest any further.

"He's chosen his destiny. Let him be." Auron said.

* * *

"So, have you chosen who will be the fayth for the final Aeon?" Yunalesca asked. Yuna nodded, but first, there was something she needed to know. 

"Lady Yunalesca, I have to know, is there another way?" Yuna asked. Yunalesca paused for a moment before shaking her head sadly.

"If there was another way, we wouldn't have to sacrifice Summoners and I wouldn't have chosen this path. Now, who is to be converted into the fayth? Step forth!"

Tidus stepped forward to meet his destiny. As he entered the weird circle drawn on the ground, he felt very apprehensive. Had he made a mistake by volunteering? As soon as the thought entered his head, he banished it. No. He hadn't made a mistake. This was how it was meant to be. Allowing the magical forces that Yunalesca had summoned to lower him to the ground in a somewhat-lying down position, he felt something stab the back of his head and drill all the way into his brain.

Screaming out in nameless pain and agony, he started to hope that he would black out. But blessed oblivion did not await him. He was kept painfully awake, agony unlike anything he had ever suffered beforeassaulted his body from all directions. Pure white light started to shine out of his eyes and still-screaming mouth.

It took Auron and Wakka's combined strength to hold back Yuna from charging Yunalesca and disrupting the ceremony. Yuna's eyes were flooded with tears as she watched Tidus writhe and twist in invisible bonds as he continued screaming.

She couldn't take it anymore. Breaking free from Auron and Wakka's grip, she charged at Yunalesca.

Slamming headfirst into her, Yuna didn't regret sending Yunalesca to the floor. The column of white light that was about to envelop Tidus and finally end the ceremony receded and faded away.

Even while lying on the floor, Yunalesca still maintained barely enough control to keep Tidus aloft. His tortured screams had died down, and she slowly lowered him down onto the floor, where he was promptly carried away by Kimhari. Turning to Yuna, she asked in a very calm but very I-am-so-going-to-kill-you-for-hitting-me voice, "Why did you attack me?"

"I can't let him die. I musn't. If there is another way, I'll find it. And even if there isn't another way, I'll make one! And now, you're just an obstacle in my path. An obstacle to be removed." Yuna said determinedly.

"So be it. I do not wish to fight you, but now, by attacking me, you have branded yourself and your guardians as heretics. Therefore, you must die." Yunalesca said ominously. A dark aura started to surround her. "Feel the power of the Dark Side."

"Oh yeah? Bring it on, bitch!" Rikku yelled.

And with that, the party charged.

* * *

A/N: Five minutes later... 

Nearly the entire party, including Kimhari, lay on the floor, broken and defeated. Yunalesca was simply too strong. The only one who still stood undefeated was Auron, and he was reletively unharmed, but most of it was due to the fact that he had not fought at all.

"Hmph. I never though I would have to use it. Oh well, there's a first time for everything." He said.

Slowly gathering energy from his surroundings, he started to transform. His muscles started bulging out of proportion, growing to be humongous in size. He grew larger and larger, until he was as large as Yunalesca herself (She's in her third form). Auron's clothes by now had all been shredded by his growth, except for his pants (Think of a brown-coloured Incredible Hulk).

He had finally snapped, letting his instincts turn feral and transformed into what every unsent didn't want to be. A fiend.

Swinging forward a gargatuan fist, the magical shield that Yunalesca had summoned was no match for Auron's brute strength. The meaty ham fist smashed through the invisible shield like a stone smashing through glass and caught Yunalesca straight in her demonic eye. Yelling out in pain, she didn't even have time to prepare an effective defense, let alone mount a counter-attack, as Auron started pounding her demonic form again and again relentlessly.

Finally, after a thorough beating lasting about ten minutes, all that was left of Yunalesca's demon form was an unrecognizable carcass that resembled cow intestines.

Soon enough, that dissolved into pyreflies, and all that was left was Yunalesca's prone form, lying on the floor. Slowly, a trembling hand reached out.

"Now this world is doomed. With my death, there shall be no more Final Aeons," she said, her voice quivering with weakness.

"Lady Yunalesca, when there's a will, there's a way. We will find one," said Yuna, her voice full of determination.

"Even if you defeat Sin, the inner spirit, Yu Yevon, will still regenerate it. What you see is merely the outer shell. Sin is eternal, it will last forever," she turned to face the night sky beyond.

"Zaon...forgive me...I was...too weak...I have...failed...this world..."

Those were her final words. Her hand fell to the ground, her 'corpse' dissolving into pyreflies as well.

Suddenly, the whole place started rumbling. A piece of masonry missed Auron by an inch and nearly landed on Rikku. Quickly picking up Tidus,Auron ranout with the rest of them, the place falling apart right behind their feet.

* * *

Just as the party emerged from the temple, the whole place collapsed, making the ruins of the Zanarkand temple seem even more ruined. Tidus, who had regained consciousness by now, looked back at Yuna, who was lagging behind the party, lost in thought. As the airship touched down and the boarding ramp extended, Tidus looked back to where Yuna was, only to find that she wasn't there. 

Frantically searching the party, he found that she wasn't among them either. Looking back more carefully, he noticed a dark shape running off...with something white in its hands. _Don't tell me it..._

Hurrying back onto the airship, he followed everyone to the bridge, intent on telling everyone what he suspected.

* * *

Yuna had the sensation that she was flying. What was going on? Where was she? She couldn't see anything, and she had problems breathing. 

Whatever was keeping a hold on her head tightened, and she blacked out.

* * *

"Okay everyone, I believe Yuna's been kidnapped." Tidus said. 

"What? Kidnapped? Where?" Rikku said frantically. The rest of the party shared similar reactions.

"Everyone! Calm down! Rikku, remember that thing that attacked you in the Thunder Plains?" Rikku nodded. "I believe it's after me, and it's using Yuna as bait."

"Bait! I'll teach that thing to use _my _niece as bait..." Cid started.

"Don't even think about it Cid. This is my fight. Now, the only logical place that thing will take Yuna to would be Mt. Gagazet. We should head there now." Tidus instructed Cid. Cid muttered something about "His fight my ass. That's my niece down there..." under his breath before ordering the airship to set course for Mt. Gagazet.

Tidus leaned onto the viewport, wishing that the Airship could go faster. Yuna needed him. He could feel it.

_Hold on Yuna... I'm coming._

* * *

Chief: Well, it seems that poor Yunie has been kidnapped by Dachande. Time for Tidus to play the knight in shining armour rescuing the damsel in distress while fighting the mighty and evil dragon. 

On a more important note, the next chapter will either absolutely make or break the story.

Review, review, review, review.

A message to Zioncross: I plan on writing a Ryu vs. Predator type of fic in the DOA section after I'm finished with this. What's your opinion on it?

This is the Chief, signing out.


	16. Tidus' Awakening

Disclaimer: I don't own FFX, Predator, anything we ripped off and (Blast, this is going to give the chapter away), I do not own Devil May Cry.

A/N: Well, here's a major fight scene for you folks to enjoy. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Tidus vs. the Predator! The fight occurs in the area wherethey fought the guardian beast, and we promise either an extremely great or horrid chapter, depending on how you guys react.

Another note, Dachande's spear will now be referred to as a Combistick.

* * *

Chapter 16: Tidus' Awakening

As the Airship touched down next to the rocky plateau(Is it a plateau?), the boarding ramp extended and Tidus walked out.

Remnants of their battle with the Guardian Beast still littered the area, and that was proven by the many pieces of the beast that were scattered around the area, plus all the craters made by the explosions of Rikku's machina weapons.

Unsheathing the Rebellion with his right hand and unholstering Ebony with his left, he started to stride forward at a slow and steady pace. Rescuing Yuna was his objective, and he would accomplish it. Or die trying.

* * *

Dachande dumped the human female onto the ground and took out his netgun. Manually removing a net from the launcher, he used it to secure the human to the ground. 

Once the net was secure, Dachande smirked. This human wouldn't be going anywhere. At least, not until his main Target had been slain, his skull ripped from his shoulders as a trophy. This was his chance to prove himself to his clan.

Once he brought back the human's skull, he would be promoted to one of the Young Bloods, the newest addition to the ranks of the Dark Blade Clan. He would no longer be a lowly Unblooded youngster, disregarded as below his clansmen's contempt. And once he was finished with other hunts, he would be further promoted to be one of the Blooded, a veteran warrior, leading a life full of glory!

All he had to do was slay this one human and take his skull. No problem.

Triple-checking his equipment, he made sure his wristblades and Combistick were in tip-top condition, then discarded his plasmacaster, speargun and plasma pistol. He wouldn't need them until he was finished with his prey.

The dust hung thick in the air, acting as a smokescreen of sorts, limiting visibility until Dachande could see no further than a hundred metres in front of him.

He saw a shadow in the dust. It was approaching slowly. Soon enough, Tidus materialized out of the dustscreen.

* * *

Tidus stared at the creature. It stared back. 

It's cloaking was off, and Tidus could now identify it as the very same monster that had been harassing the party ever since Luca. Recalling his brief struggle with this alien Predator in Luca, he knew that his best bet would be to unalign its mask, blinding it to make the fight easier.

They slowly started circling, going faster at a steady rate, and soon they broke into an all-out run, charging at each other. Tidus managed to get off three shots with Ebony, but Dachande spun his Combistick in a 180-degree angle in front of himself to deflect the shots. Retracting the telescopic ends of his Combistick, he clenched his fists tightly and unsheathed his wristblades.

Tidus had already holstered Ebony and replaced it with the Brotherhood. He managed to raise it just in time to parry the blow that Dachande had sent at him. Jumping at the chance to knock the mask out of alignment, he threw a quick kick at Dachande's face, only to have his foot caught in a clawed hand.

_Oh no! Not again!_ Tidus thought as Dachande picked him up by that one foot and tossed him away.

But then, with agility henever knew he had, Tidus flipped around in mid-air and landed lightly on his feet. He backflipped a few times to get rid of his momentum, then set his swords in defensive positions.

Dachande charged straight at him, bringing down the Combistick in a punishing blow that would have shattered Tidus' swords had he not dodged out of the way in time.

"Chew on this!" Tidus shouted at his opponent. With supernatural strength, he slammed both of his swords straight into the ground blade-first, creating a shockwave that travelled straight at Dachande.

Backflipping to avoid the shockwave, Dachande had a few tricks up his sleeve. Still in mid-air, he produced his Smart Disc. Spinning around, he threw it at Tidus.

With the disc flying straight at him, Tidus dodge-rolled to the side. He glanced back, only to see the disc circle around, still intent on slicing him in half. Realizing that dodging was no use, he did the second-most sensible thing to do. Raising the Brotherhood, there was a mighty _SSSSHHHHHHHKKKKKK!_ as the disc collided with the Brotherhood's blade.

Tidus's arm was nearly dislocated with the impact, and he almost let go of the Brotherhood as the disc was deflected. Quickly switching swords, he did a quick inspection of the blade. The section where the disc had impacted was completely spider-webbed with _cracks_.

This is impossible! The Brotherhood was supposed to be unbreakable!

Suddenly, the world slowed down, and Tidus saw himself in third-person view. And behind him, he could see _another_ disc coming up from behind him. This time, he raised the Rebellion to deflect it. Two cracked swords were better than a broken one.

Strangely, Tidus felt hardly any impact as the disc hit the Rebellion. It was instantly repelled. Doing a quick check, Tidus saw that the blade was completely unblemished. _What the..._

A mighty roar brought him back to the fight. Tidus saw Dachande charging straight at him, Combistick raised. Tidus brought up the Brotherhood to deflect the incoming blow, and there was a loud _CRASH!_ as the blade _shattered_ beneath Dachande's might. Tidus' eyes widened and he quickly jumped backward, discarding the broken sword.

Realizing that he had lost one of his beloved swords, his world turned blood-red as anger and rage boiled up inside of him. "You're gonna pay for that!" Tidus screamed as he put the Rebellion in a charging position behind him. Letting the tip of the blade touch the ground, he did a lightning-quick slash that sent a much faster shockwave than before. This one was too fast for Dachande to avoid, and he was thrown backward as the shockwave hit him like a solid concrete wall.

Realizing that he was at a disadvantage, he quickly tossed his disc again before flipping back onto his feet. He then leveled his Plasmacaster at Tidus' chest and fired several bolts. The sound of the explosions ripped through Gagazet, kicking up clouds of snow and dust. But from beyond the smoke, Tidus lunged forth, the Rebellion weaving in the air. Dachande dodged and lifted into the air with his jet-packs, trying to keep one step away of that deadly blade and to occansionaly fire a spear bolt at Tidus.

The Predator was good, Tidus had to admit. Very good, and more than once Tidus had to parry desparately to turn a spear bolt aside. He kept up his offensive flurry though, keeping Dachande on the defensive with sudden stabs and slashing cuts.

One misstep...

And then, it happened, all of a sudden. Tidus started to slash to the left, cut it short and stabbed straight out, then reversed his grip and sent the blade slashing across, left to right. He spun a complete circuit, coming around to parry a spear gunshot, but there was no shot forthcoming.

That left to right reversal had cleanly landed. Dachande's mask flew free of his face and fell to the ground, to settle in the snow.

Despite losing his mask and having his momentum disrupted, Dachande still had plenty of tricks. He grabbed the Disc from his utility belt and threw it at Tidus. Tidus turned his blade, intent on using the flat endof the Rebellion to deflect it, but to his horror, the disc suddenly darted to the right, around the Rebellion, and severed Tidus' left hand at the wrist. The hand holding the Rebellion released it and it flew out of sight, soon enough tumbling over the edge of the cliff, into the lower levels of Mt. Gagazet.

A bloodcurling scream echoed through the area as Tidus clutched at the cauterised stump, desperately trying to ease the pain that wouldn't go away.

Dachande strode towards Tidus and was about to deliver the final blow when a thunderclap sounded through the area. Both of them looked up, and were rewarded by the sight of the symbol of Yevon floating in the sky. In the very centre of it, a certain object lay embedded in it. The symbol shattered, and whatever the object was plummeted to the ground.

The object, now identified as a sword with a very intricate shape and a very sharp blue-coloured blade(Yup.The Caladbolg), landed blade-first into the ground right between Tidus and Dachande. Both immediately dashed for the sword, but Tidus got there first. Picking the sword out from the ground, he realized that even if he had grabbed the sword first, he would've still been killed anyway.

He realized how true his revelation was Dachande plunged his wristblades into Tidus' abdomen. He didn't even get a chance to defend with his new sword.

"D..Damn.. you..." Tidus struggled to speak.

Dachande slowly dragged the wristblades upward, creating great gashes which blood poured out of. Tidus only managed a small grunt of pain before the air left his lungs. His whole body went limp and Dachande kicked it off his wristblades.

Retracting them back into his wrist sheath, he turned his back on the corpse of his prey whilst putting his mask back on. He would take his skull as a trophy, he just needed to release the other first.

Behind him as he walked off, Tidus' right hand twitched. His hold on the Caladbolg tightened. Still groaning from the pain,he slowly tried to get up.

Suddenly, Dachande turned around and charged back at Tidus. Violently thrusting his Combistick forward, he impaled Tidus and pinned him to the ground.

_And stay dead!_ Dachande thought to himself as he turned back again. He had walked no more than thirty metres when he heard an ominous rumbling.

Turning back to the still body of his prey, he noticed that his Combistick was vibrating very violently. All so suddenly, the combistick _erupted_ from his prey's body, and a column of dust surrounded his prey, creating a small whirlwind. From within that whirlwind, Tidus, mysteriously still alive, lunged straight at Dachande. With his bare hands.

Dachande immediately raised his wristblades to block, but what Tidus did was completely unexpected. His punching right hand went straight _through_ the wristblades, stopping midway because his fist had hit the wristblade sheath. _What the..._ Dachande couldn't believe it. His prey was supposed to be dead, but right in front of him, Tidus was still alive and kicking.

A slight movement made him realize that Tidus was shifting his hand with the wristblades _still inside it!_ A glance at Tidus' face and Dachande realized that he was showing no signs of pain at all. Tidus' eyes had glazed over, no pupils were visible at all. But yet, Dachande knew that Tidus was staring at him with a single purpose in mind.To kill him. Quickly wrenching the wristblades away, he jumped back and retrieved his combistick from the ground.

Tidus was slowly staggering towards him, surrounded by a pulsing white aura, his breathing heavy. Every step he took was incredible labour. Just as he was a few steps away from Dachande, he stopped.

* * *

Yuna had regained conciousness shortly after the fight had began. Her heart started beating at the back of her head as Tidus did battle with the beast. 

Her heart leapt in hope when Tidus knocked off the beast's mask, but collasped in despair when the tables got turned and Tidus' hand got severed. She could almost feel Tidus' pain when he was stabbed violently and cursed the net for holding her down and preventing her from helping him.

She lost all hope when Tidus was impaled to the ground, but kept her fingers crossed that the beast was only after Tidus. She, like Dachande, thought Tidus was dead, but when he sprang up again, her heart lit up with joy, but this feeling was soon overtaken by another.

Pain.

She felt as if an unknown force was wrentching her gut out.All her muscles ached and her head felt as if it was being rammed by a sledgehammer.

Then, she no longer felt the pain. She felt as if she was flying,and, weirdly, she couldn't stop thinking of Zanarkand. Pyreflies were everywhere and the shrill call of sin echoed throughout her head.

Despite the pain, she managed to choke up enough strength to lift her head and take a glance at Tidus, only to see him throw his head back with a blood curling scream.

Then, she blacked out.

* * *

Another bloodcurling scream, longer and more tortured than the last echoed throughout the entire Gagazet mountain range. Tidus' body exploded in a flash of white light so brilliant that Dachande immediately had to cover his face or have his vision permanantly impaired. 

Slowly lowering his arms, he saw an immense beast standing in Tidus' place, one that was aboutas large as himself. A metallic helmet of some sort covered its head, though the helmet seemed to be the head itself. The rest of its body was red and black in colour, with white streaks running along its appendages, immense power radiating from within. Demonic-looking wings extended from its back, but they were currently folded in, like a bat's wings.

(A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, presenting our very own version of Dante's Devil Trigger(DT), Tidus' Aeon Trigger(AT)!)

_At last. The TRUE_ _hunt begins._ Dachande thought to himself. This would certainly be a challenge.

Dachande gave a crisp salute to his new adversary, drawing and extending his Combistick. Then, formalities over, he leapt at Tidus, a sudden and devastating thrust.

But one that never got close to hitting. With hardly a movement, Tidus turned the Combistick aside.

Dachande then went into a wild flurry, the likes of which he had never show before, raining blows at his foe. but Tidus didn't even seem to move. He didn't step back or to the side, yet his subtle dodges and his precision parries kept Dachande's weapon slashing and stabbing harmlessly wide.

It went on for several moments, but eventually Dachande's flurry began to slow, and the Predator, recognizing the futility of the attempt to overwhelm, stepped back fast.

Not fast enough.

With a sudden burst of power, Tidus flew forward, his blade working mightily. When it was at the peak of its dance, all it left was a blue blur glistening in the sun. Dachande held strong, his Combistick parrying brilliantly, each blow backed by the sheer determination of not to be overwhelmed by his prey, or else Tidus' strikes would have driven right through.

Just as he was about to launch a counter, Tidus was gone, leaping high, with great demonic wings spread, and turning a somersault to land right behind Dachande in perfect balance, striking hard.

Dachande reversed his grip and stabbed out behind him, intercepting the blow. He let go of his weapon altogether, tossing it just a bit, and spun about, catching it before it had even disengaged from Tidus' blade.

With a growl of rage, Dachande gave a yell. His tempo increased suddenly and dramatically, three steps forward, two back, prefectly balanced all the while. His fighting style was based on balance, on the back-and-forth charges, thrusts and sudden retreats, and now he came at Tidus with a series of cunning stabs, but Tidus easily dodged.

Dachande stabbed high turning the angle of his Combistick high in anticipation that Tidus would move left, but Tidus, as if he had anticipated the movement totally, moved to the right and scored a slight hit on Dachande's waist. The Predator then retracted his missed blow and stabbed it a second time, this time lower, but Tidus anticipated that too, easily dodging it and scoring another hit, this time on Dachande's right.

A sudden stab by Tidus had Dachande quick-stepping back even more off-balance, for the first time, and then Tidus flew away, up and back.

The furious Predator pursued, thrusting hard for Tidus' head. And in his rage when his stab missed yet again, he reverted to a slashing attack.

Tidus' blue blade caught the blow, holding the silvery-black Combistick at bay, this would be a contest of strength. But Dachande, too focused in his efforts to force Tidus' blade down, could not defend himself from the former's kick to his abdomen.

Dachande flew back, but quickly recovered and was about to pick himself up when he realised Tidus had grabbed his arm, pulled it over him, flipped himself over so that his back was on the ground, and with both legs, he kicked Dachande several feet straight up into the air.

Dachande immediately tried to acticate his jetpacks to get out of whatever move Tidus was planning, but Tidus was too fast for him.

(A/N: Zioncross, you should easily recognise this move.)

Somehow, Tidus had simply teleported right behind Dachande, and had grabbed him in mid-air (Hey, many things are possible when Tidus is in AT. Btw, what if he left green leaves in his wake?). Tidus' sudden teleportation had added velocity to Dachande's rise, and as they started to descend, they also started to spin.

Tidus yelled a viscous warcry, and the spinning projectile comprised of the two combatants slammed into the ground with a force equivalent to that of a miniature meteor.

Tidus, who used Dachande as a shield to soften the impact, quickly jumped off and put himself in a defensive position, ready to counterattack.

(A/N: That was another of Ryu Hayabusa's moves, the counter-hold 'Senko-Izuna'.)

Dachande was slightly stunned and dazed by the impact, but it would take more than _that_ to bring him down. Shaking his head to clear the dizziness, he charged at Tidus again, this time aiming his wristblades at Tidus' midsection. Once again, Tidus was much faster. Grabbing Dachande's arm and pulling it over him, he launched a viscous uppercut that once again launched Dachande straight into the air.

(A/N: Another counter-hold, the 'Rekko-Izuna'.)

_Not another one..._, Dachande thought to himself as he hit the ground spinning once again. This time, he took a bit longer to get up. Those drops were beginning to take their toll on him. Another three more and he would be finished. Perhaps he had bitten off more than he could chew...

This time, he wouldn't go easy on his prey any more. He was no longer fighting a mere human. This creature that his prey had transformed into was nearly his equal.

This time acting much faster, Dachande plunged his Combistick at Tidus' legs, intent on sweeping them out from under him. But, as you readers would have expected, Tidus was too fast. He grabbed the front end of the combistick and yanked it towards him. As soon as he was able to, Tidus grabbed Dachande's arm again, but what he did next was once again unexpected.

Rolling over Dachande's back, he threw Dachande over his shoulders and kicked him straight up into the air. The force of both kicks hit Dachande's unarmored back like a megaton of bricks. As expected, as he was launched into the air, Tidus grabbed him and sent them spinning to the ground.

(A/N: Yet another hold, the 'Yoko-Izuna'.)

When they hit, it actually hurt. Dachande felt as though his skull had split open, but he knew it wasn't. It just felt like it. This time, he had trouble picking himself up.

Tidus strode over to him, picked him up by the shoulder, and launched another uppercut that propelled the battered, bruised and dazed Predator into the air once again. Dachande nearly blacked out as they hit the ground, but he kept himself stubbornly awake. If he didn't escape now, he never would.

(A/N: That was the dreaded throw itself. Ryu Hayabusa's most infamous move, the Izuna-Otoshi!)

Getting back onto his feet as quickly as possible, he grabbed a Sonic Trap from his bandolier and tossed it straight at Tidus' feet. The sonic trap detonated as soon as it landed on the floor, and the burst of multi-spectrum light and subsonic sound the mine released was enough to keep Tidus stunned for the few seconds that Dachande needed to get away.

Quickly grabbing his ranged weapons that lay on the ground, he activated his cloak and fled.

* * *

As soon as the adrenaline rush wore off, and so did his transformation, Tidus collapsed onto his knees. The searing pain on his wrist had toned down to a painful throbbing, and somehow the gashes on his chest had regenerated, leaving angry scars in their wake. The dust around him suddenly scattered, and the Airship appeared over him. 

Tidus glanced upward at the Airship, relief flooding him. Perhaps he would live...

Unable to take the pain any longer, Tidus slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

Rikku was among the first the run down the boarding ramp of the airship. Rushing over to Tidus' body along with the rest of the party, she knelt down beside him and stared in shock at the cauterised stump where his left hand used to be. 

"Call the paramedics!" she yelled at Buddy, who nodded and barked orders into his radio.

Five minutes later, the medics arrived. Lifting Tidus onto a stretcher, they quickly carried him back into the airship for an immediate operation.

* * *

A/N: One hour later... 

"He looks pretty beat up, doesn't he?"

"Beat up? Wakka, are you nuts? Take a look at his hand! Take a look at those scars! You call that beat up? He's been friggin' mutilated!"

"Alright, Lu! Calm down. I understand."

"Honestly, I'm quite surprised that he actually managed to survive."

"Sir Auron,are you sure he's really all right?"

The last voice brought Tidus back from blissful nothingness. The voices hammered at his ears like jackhammers, causing him to groan from the discomfort.

"Look! He's awake!" Squealed a high voice that Tidus could identify as Rikku's.

"Rikku, shut up. You're making my headache even worse." Tidus moaned as he instinctively brought up both hands to cover his ears. What his left ear met wasn't flesh, but hard, cold metal.

"WHAT THE...!" Tidus yelped as he yanked his left hand away from his ear. He flexed his left hand, clenching and unclenching it. He heard the movement of machina gears and servos.

Tidus didn't want to look. Had his left hand really been replaced with a machina one?

"Umm, Tidus? Are you feeling all right?" Rikku asked him.

Tidus sure as hell didn't feel right. Every injury in his body had already healed by then, thanks to the mysterious powers the ceremony had given him. The only place he felt wrong was his left hand.

Slowly bringing his left handinto view, Tidus nearly fainted as he saw the machina hand that was in place of his. Collapsing back onto the bed, he tried to take it in.

_A replacement machina hand..._ (Geez. Just like Anakin and Luke Skywalker.)

"Back to the land of the living, huh?" Auron remarked as Tidus slowly sat up, still clenching and unclenching his machina hand.

"Tidus..." Wakka began hesitantly.

"Wakka, there's something you need to know. The Brotherhood... I... lost it." Tidus started to get off the bed, still flexing his new left hand.

"Yeah, I know." Wakka held up the Brotherhood's handle, bits and pieces of the blade still stuck to the handguard.

Tidus stared at the remnants of his beloved sword before recalling the other one. "Another thing. Cid!" Tidus called out.

"What is it, kid?" Cid turned to him.

"The Rebellion. I think it tumbled off the cliff while I was fighting. I need to get it back."

"You're nuts, kid! You just barely recovered from your fight! You're not going anywhere." Cid protested.

Tidus disregarded Cid's protests. One way or another, he would get back the Rebellion.

Striding out of the sick bay and grabbing the Caladbolg on the way out, he quickly walked over to the cliff edge which the Rebellion had tumbled off, the party right behind him.

"Umm, Tidus?" Rikku began hesitantly. "You're not gonna jump down there... are you?"

Tidus responded by slamming his right hand into a nearby rocky outcrop very violently. Cracks slowly started to travel up the outcrop, until suddenly, the whole thing _exploded._

Surprised, Tidus stared at his right hand, as though it was someone else's. Then, a grin started to form on his face.

Stepping forward, he leapt off the cliff. Yuna screamed and looked over the cliff edge, only to see a flurry of slashing movements and gunfire travelling down the cliff.

"Don't worry," Auron told her. "The medics just gave him an overdose of morphine."

* * *

Flying down the side of Mt. Gagazet, Tidus was busy kicking Ahriman butt. He kick-jumped off one, let another have a healthy dose of lead, sliced through three with a single slash with the Caladbolg, and then spun around, causing a Rain Storm of lead to rain down on the horde of Ahrimans waiting below. 

Shifting himself closer to the cliff side, he started running _vertically_ downward, along the cliff side, still shooting E&I like a madman. Scores of Ahrimans fell beneath his marksmanship.

Kicking off the cliff side, he set the Caladbolg beneath him and impaled three Ahrimans with the blade. Letting himself fall back to the cliff side, he started running down again. Quickly aiming Ivory at the bottom of the Caladbolg's hilt, he fired off three shots. All of them hit dead-centre, accelerating the Caladbolg to deadly speeds. Any Ahriman that got in its way was instantly impaled and shredded to pieces.

Tidus had already gotten a lot of speed by running down the cliff, thanks to Sir Isaac Newton and his law of gravity, and now his speed matched the Claadbolg's and was going even higher.

Steadily catching up with the Caladbolg, he snatched it out of the air and plunged it into the cliff wall, shearing off huge chunks off his downward velocity.

Tidus was still descending very rapidly, and the muscles in his arms screamed out for respite. Gritting his teeth and biting back a cry, he held on tightly.

The ground was starting to come into sight, but Tidus was still going down really fast. He estimated just 500 metres before he'll get turned into a pancake.

400 metres.

200 metres.

50 metres.

Tidus was still descending very fast.

25 metres.

3 metres.

50 centimetres.

10 centimetres.

Tidus halted abruptly, and the massive force of inertia nearly lifted him back into the air. Letting go of the Caladbolg and shaking out his tired arms, he glanced around for the Rebellion. No sign of it.

"Cid," Tidus spoke into his comm, "I think I lost it for good. Bring me up."

* * *

But behind a rocky crevice that Tidus had failed to notice, the Rebellion lay embedded in the ground. 

And next to it, lay a sphere.

* * *

A/N: Gee, I wonder what that sphere is. Of course it's the New Beginnings Sphere! Well, what do you think of Tidus' AT? What about the Izunas that Tidus pulled off? Tidus is now half-man, half-aeon. Whatcha think of that? 

Review, review and review.

This is the Chief, signing out.


	17. SeymourAgain

Disclaimer: I don't own any FFX characters or the Predator or their weapons or anything we ripped off either blatantly or discretely and their distinct resemblance. What I do own however is the idea Tidus being able to turn into an Aeon and kicking ass.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, my comp crashed. Anyway, this chapter is only here to build up to the climax of the final fight. It also serves to do nothing more than to clear up several doubts and link this fic to the actuall game.

* * *

Chapter 17: Seymour…Again… 

The party was contemplating their next move after defeating Yunalesca. They all knew that she was lying and there was another way to beat Sin. They just had to find it.

"Why don't we go dig about Zanarkand. We might be able to find some useful manuscripts or tablets," said Rikku.

"Yeah, while we're at it we might as well go look for Moses' DVD collection," replied Tidus sarcastically.

"I was just trying to be helpful…" defended Rikku.

"What the kid said is right," said Brother from the pilot's seat, "Searching in Zanarkand is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Wait a minute, I take that back. Make that a _fragment_ of a needle."

"Brother's right. The search topic is too specific and the search area is too broad. We gotta go to another place. Probably a living Google search engine or encyclopedia," remarked Lulu.

"So what do I type in? Old geezer that lived for too damn long?" asked Buddy as he bent over to the Sphere Osclilo Finder's control panel.

"That might work," muttered Auron as a list began to build up on the screen of the Finder.

"On top of the list in Maechen and Mika," announced Buddy.

"Maechen's useless. He don't know anything," said Tidus.

"Then Mika it is," said Cid. He then picked up the communicator on the table, "All hands on deck! Combat level 2, Condition Yellow. Set course for Bevelle. Full speed ahead!"

With a mighty roar and a brilliant flash, the great contraption sped from the snowy peaks of Gagazet to Bevelle, leaving a trail of thick white smoke in its wake.

* * *

A/N: About one hour later… 

The Al-Bhed soldiers and pilots who were expecting a fight were horribly disappointed. The city was nearly deserted, and there were traces of mass fleeing of the city everywhere. Dark streets and empty, derelict houses were all that greeted the Al-Bhed. The people of the city had fled, perhaps afraid of another Al-Bhed military strike or the oppressions of the temple of late. Or both.

The wreckage from their previous strike two weeks ago was not cleared yet and the entire place stank of death and decay. The roads were in a horrible state of disrepair and the mass flooding of several complexes due to burst pipes hindered the party's movement through the ghost town.

Yet, they were all on their toes, fearing that behind each corner, in each one of those empty, gazing windows was a Warrior Monk with his rifle leveled at them. Every noise put them on the slightest alert and every slight movement caused them to jump.

With much difficulty, they made their way to the Temple, which, thankfully, was lit and looked populated. The great gates of steel and oak were replaced by a thin palisade gate, which fell to one of Auron's mighty swings.

What greeted them was an alert, but dirty, visibly demoralized and somewhat small battalion of Warrior Monks. Their armours were stained with grit and mud and their weapons showed signs of being overused and overheated. Blood, bullet shells and bullet holes covered the walls and ground. Apparently, there was a revolt.

"Halt! The likes of you traitors will not be tolerated in this holy place," said their leader.

"Why the hell are you so enthusiastic? Just let them pass, if you don't they'll probably kill us anyway," said another from the back.

"Stop!" a voice from behind called.

The party's attention immediately shifted to a young woman who was running down the Highbridge. It was Shelinda.

"Lady Yuna and her Guardians are not traitors and are to be allowed to pass in peace," she commanded.

"But Cap'n…" the first Monk tried to protest.

"That was an order Sergeant," she replied authoritatively.

"Yes, Cap'n," the Monk finally relented.

Shelinda then led the party away from the Monks. Then, she burst out in a flurry of words, "Please Lady Yuna, tell me that the reports are false and that you didn't kill Maester Kinoc, Maester Seymour and Father Zuke."

"Well…we…" Yuna was at a loss for words.

"Yeah, we killed them. Got a prob' with that?" asked Tidus as he cracked his knuckles. He then slammed his fist into the wall, shaking a storm of dust loose and leaving a depression bigger that a dinner plate.

"Bring us to the old geezer who runs this place or you're head's next," he demanded.

Shelinda cowered in fear, but regained her confidence when Yuna stepped forth and reprimanded Tidus. She then asked politely for an audience with the Grand Maester.

"Er…Sure, come with me to the waiting room."

* * *

A/N: About twenty minutes later. 

The party was getting impatient. Shelinda was gone for too long. Perhaps she was calling for reinforcements to take them out, but they could take on any number of Monks, so why bother?

Finally, Yuna took the initiative and got up to go seek out the Maester, wherever his ass was.

"Kimarhi, I.D. vision please," she asked.

"Certainly," said Kimarhi. His eyes flashed green and he began to scan the area.

"Found him," he said after a short while.

The party then swiftly proceeds to the innermost chambers of the Temple, leaving battered and dismembered Monks who resisted in their wake.

The door to Mika's private room was locked, but two quick slices of the Caladborg and the great wooden plate was reduced to matchwood.

"What are you doing here!" questioned Mika, his eyes widened in surprise, "Shouldn't you be in the Calm Lands defeating Sin with the Final Aeon? My Scouts report that you entered the Temple in Zanarkand."

"We did, but Yunalesca revealed the hidden condition for summoning the Final Aeon. I was unwilling to sacrifice any of my Guardians, so we disposed of her," replied Yuna.

"You lied Mika! You cheated the loyal devotees of Yevon and sent countless Summoners and Guardians to their doom! I hope there's a special place in hell waiting for you," yelled Wakka, while pointing an accusing finger at Mika.

"You defeated Yunalesca? My gosh. Now Spira is doomed! Without anymore Final Aeons, Sin shall be eternal! There will be no more calms and the people shall suffer. I will not be around to see this," said Mika as he tried to scurry out of the room, only to be greeted by a pair of pistols.

"You ain't going nowhere until you tell us why Sin keeps coming back and every other thing they didn't mention in the textbook," said Yuna.

"You brazen fools will not be able to stop Sin even with that information. But if it pleases you, I shall tell all. The spirit of Yu Yevon, ancient Summoner King of Zanarkand, dwells within Sin. Usually, when a Final Aeon is used to defeat Sin, the Aeon oly destroys the outer core. Yu Yevon is unhurt. He will then possess the Final Aeon and turns it into Sin, starting the cycle anew. From within, he continues the summoning," said Mika.

"Summoning what?" asked Tidus.

"Funny you should ask, Tidus, son of Jecht, Fist of Zanarkand. He is summoning where you come from," he replied.

"Hmm…" muttered Tidus. He retreated to the side of the room to digest this new knowledge.

The Grand Maester then walked to the corner of the room.

"Where you going?" asked Rikku.

"To prepare my funeral!" was the reply.

The old man was not going to give anymore information, thus the party left. But on the way out, they met Shelinda.

"I see you already met the Grand Maester," said Shelinda.

"Yes, we have," replied Yuna.

"Good, I have a report for him here as well," said Shelinda.

She entered Mika's room and found him busy with something. Not wanting to disturb him, she left the report on his desk.

On the way out, Yuna was greeted by an old ally. The Fayth of Bahamut.

"Yuna, please come to my chamber immediately. I have something of great importance to tell you," the Fayth spoke.

"Very well, I will go," she said.

"You who are one of us, yet you are not. Please come too," the Fayth told Tidus.

"Fine…" he replied.

The party then gave an excuse to be alone for awhile. They then went to Bahamut's chamber. He was already waiting.

* * *

'Thanks for the Aeon," she said. 

"It was my pleasure," said the Fayth, "Now, onto more pressing issues. Yevon is in chaos. No more Final Aeons can be produced. What are your views on defeating Sin now?"

"Erm…" Yuna stammered.

"Simple," said Tidus, "The Yevonites banned Machina because they were sacrilegious, but why were they made sacrilegious? Because they are the other answer to beating Sin. They alone maybe able to defeating Sin, thus they were banned."

"Very good son of Jecht, but what about Yu Yevon? How will you beat him?" asked the Fayth.

"Even more simple. We make a big hole in Sin, jump in and find Yu Yevon. We blow him up then blow Sin up from within. Easy!" replied Tidus.

"Ah, a bold plan, very good," said Bahamut, "We shall help you in the upcoming fight. And another thing, about you. You are one of us, yet you are not, as the ceremony was disrupted. Thus you have the powers of an Aeon, but are still human. Use these powers for good. They are our gift to you."

"I shall," promised Tidus.

"Another thing. Try not to use it too often. The more you use it, the closer you go to becoming the Final Aeon, and the closer the Summoner goes, to death," said the Fayth in a hushed tone so Yuna couldn't hear him.

With that, the Fayth slowly descended back into his statue.

"What was that about?" asked Yuna, "About new powers and death?"

"Nothing, just nothing," said Tidus as he walked off.

"You know what? You're a poor liar," muttered Yuna under her breath.

* * *

When Shelinda had reentered Mika's office, only to find his headless corpse collapsed next to his chair, she ran out screaming in fear and panic. All remaining warrior monks in the vicinity of the temple were immediately put on high alert. 

A small group of elite Warrior Monks, Yevon's Finest, were scouring the room to clues of Mika's killer, but the strange thing was, when Shelinda had returned with the Warrior Monks, Mika's corpse was gone.

Shelinda knew for sure that Tidus and Co. were not responsible for Mika's death, so she told the Warrior Monks not to bother chasing them, but rather ordered an extensive search of the temple's innermost chambers. What nobody noticed however, was the thin trail of blood that travelled down the side of a pillar that faced the wall.

If they had followed that trail of blood, they would have been led to a hole in the ceiling, shrouded in darkness. If they had went through that hole, they would have seen Mika's skinned and headless corpse hanging upside-down from the ceiling. And if they had turned to their left after they had seen his corpse, they would have seen a pair of yellow eyes flash at them within the darkness before disappearing.

(A/N: If you guys aren't intelligent enough to guess who it is, that was Dachande.)

* * *

A/N: This scene takes place in Rienim Temple in the Calm Lands. 

Sandy launched a fierce Razzazia attack, consisting of two searing flame waves, but Yojimbo easily dodged.

Unrelenting, Sandy launched several Firaga spells at her adversary, knowing his weakness to magic. The spells kicked up a huge dust cloud, covering Yojimbo totally. Thinking, she had finished off her foe, she let her guard down, only to hear the clinking of metal and seeing a flash of steel from behind the dust cloud.

Three Kunai darts emerged and pinned her effectively to the wall of the hall, two nailing her wings and one lodged firmly in her stomach.

A shockwave created by the immense pressure of a sword slash slammed into her, causing her to reel with pain. She tried to dislodge the Kunai darts, especially the one in her stomach, but to no avail.

Helpless, she watched at Yojimbo muttered several incantations. A dark patch appeared on the ground. From the patch sprang a great sword with weird ancient inscriptions.

Yojimbo then unsheathed the blade, revealing a crisp sword that glistened in the sun. He then muttered more incantations, causing the sword to increase to monstrous proportions. Winding up, he hurled it at the restrained Sandy.

Unable to dodge, Sandy's head was violently sliced to half by the vicious sword strike. Crimson blood flowed freely at first and Sandy's body slumped down lifelessly, the only thins that held her up were the Kunai darts. The corpse then dissolved into a million pyreflies.

Seeing her sister's demise, Cindy wanted to rush to Yojimbo and extract vengeance, only to be swatted away by a great claw. She managed to regain her balance while airborne and launched a powerful Ultima attack at whatsoever attacked her.

The "swirl" effect of the spell slowly faded away, but to Cindy's horror, her foe, the King of Dragons, remained unfazed. Bahamut's wheel then started spinning wildly. Bahamut then loosed his Mega Flare attack on her, vaporizing her instantly.

The victorious Bahamut and Yojimbo turned their attention to the last member of the sisterhood: Mindy.

Little Mindy was terrified by the two Aeons, they defeated her sisters in mere moments. Now they were looking at her.

She backed slowly towards the corner as they approached.

Then, she bumped into something. Something _big_.

Looking up, she saw a pair of golden eyes staring ominously at her.

Amina knew that she could sit this fight out. Yes it may have been a three vs. three Aeon battle, but Yojimbo and Bahamut were strong enough to handle all three Magus Sisters. Slowly, she dozed off.

Then the small squirt decided to shove her out of her beauty sleep. No one dared to do that.

Anima was pissed, very pissed. Bahamut and Yojimbo knew that and they backed off.

Then, Anima did the unthinkable.

She bent over and grabbed Mindy with her jaws, shaking her about violently like a rag doll. Bloody splashed everywhere and even her comrades were shocked at this gruesome display of gore.

After a few moments of shaking, Mindy's unrecognizable body was flung free of her head. It splattered onto the wall and created a huge bloodstain, which slowly dissolved into pyreflies.

Belgemine then approached from the other side of the hall.

"Summoner Yuna. You have bested my best Aeons in fair combat. You are truly strong," she praised.

"You flatter me," replied Yuna.

"Now, as promised, I shall entrust to you a weapon that will aid you against Sin," she said. From her sleeve she produced a blue staff that had a great gold crest that faintly resembled a fan of feathers. Jewels of many sorts were embedded in the crest.

"This staff is called the Nirvana. It has been guarded by my family for an age, now I pass it to you. Use it well," she instructed.

"I shall," Yuna reassured her.

"Now, my job is done. Send me," she said.

"But…" stammered Yuna.

"Do it," she ordered.

Yuna then twirled her staff and performed the sending ritual. Then, they turned around and left, leaving the small swarm of pyreflies behind.

* * *

As the party closed the great stone doors behind them, the swarm of pyreflies slowly reshaped into the form of Belgemine. 

"You don't have to hide, they've gone," she said.

Behind her, Dachande slowly uncloaked.

"Good choice of prey you have, Lady Yuna is strong," she continued, "Stronger than me. I feel that I kinda disappointed your father a century past."

Dachande growled in response.

"You're prey is not her, but her Guardian?" she asked.

Dachande nodded.

"The blonde one, Tidus, I assume?" she asked.

Dachande growled a confirmation.

"Yes, I noticed too. His sword is the Caladborg, the sword of darkness. Blade of Lord Shuyin, one of two men who defeated your kinsmen ages past," she commented, "As you know, the Nirvana is Lady Lenne's staff. Is it fated that these two weapons would be reunited after so many years?"

Dachande let off a low growl. Then, Belgemine disappeared in a swarm of pyreflies while Dachande activated his cloak and left.

* * *

A/N: Lazy, so we'll skip ahead to the fight against Sin. 

Gippal re-ran the O.S. (Operating System) of his T/S-17F "Mockingbird" fighter aircraft. Everything was in perfect order, almost too perfect. He never liked flying, but now they didn't need a soldier, only a pilot, thus he was forced to take up the joysticks.

Despite being one of the most decorated flying aces in his younger years, he never stepped into a plane again after his father Kamikazed his S/F-12R "Rapier" (An earlier Al-Bhed fighter) into a Sinspawn, saying something about redeeming himself after letting the Al-Bhed down once.

_Yeah right Dad. You couldn't let anyone down even if you tried. You can't even pick someone up!_

He hated being in tense battles. The looks the technicians gave him were as if he wasn't gonna survive. Yeah right. He pulled one off in Bikanel, he could do it again.

Although he was only fifth from the launch catapult, it took near an eternity to reach his turn. He knew why. Everyone was anxious. This wasn't any ordinary sortie, neither was it an escape from a burning building. It was the greatest fight of their time, the entire human race, no; the entire Spira depended on them.

The technicians were being extra cautious, and the pilot behind him, Rob Brussels, was triple checking his equipment.

_What the heck! Rob doesn't check then usually, why now?_

He looked back and saw a woman tearfully hug her husband before he boarded his V/A-32 "Morningstar" fighter-bomber.

Then he took a moment to think about the person he secretly loved. About her lovely green eyes and her sparkling blonde hair. About her ever-cheerful nature and about her childlike innocence.

"Captain Gippal, you copy?" his radio buzzed to life.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry man. I'm ready for launch," he replied.

"Very well then. Captain Gippal, you are clear for launch. Please observe the pre-launch procedures," said the controller.

"Good luck," she gingerly added.

"How many times must I tell you? I don't need other people's luck, I make my own. Captain Gippal, service number 41047, launching!"

* * *

Nhadala entered the gunnery chamber of one of the airships many 35mm "Oerlikon" anti-aircraft guns. She was arguably the best gunner they had, thus she was placed in the most important turret of them all. The one right under the bridge. If she didn't get whatsoever she had to, the bridge would go up in smokes, as would their hopes of saving Spira. 

During the briefing, it seemed simple enough. Just shoot and shoot. They were warned that there would be a shit-storm of Sinscales though.

_Just shoot and shoot simple eh? My ass! They just had to put me in this turret. _

She glanced at the gleaming row of bullets in the feeder which connected the gun's chamber to the external ammo stores. Soon, these harmless looking metal pieces would be eating their way into Sinscale flesh.

When she sat at a turret, she usually calmed herself by looking forward to the smell of gunpowder and burnt flesh. But now she didn't think she could smell it anymore. There was an even greater stench in the air: the stench of fear.

"Feelin' all right lieutenant?" asked a voice from behind.

She turned around and saw it was just Benzo, the kid who had opened the gates in Home to let the _Hammer_ in.

"Yeah, somewhat," she replied with a nervous smile.

"You'll be fine, those frags you've got don't lie you know," said the kid.

She glanced at her specialized counting machina. It read 839.

"You're gonna hit 1,000 right?" asked Benzo.

"Hell yeah!" she replied.

"That's good. Get high while you can. When I become a real soldier, I'm gonna beat your record!" he smirked.

"Bring it on kid!" she laughed.

It was only when Benzo left that she realized what their little chat had done. There was no longer a stench of fear, only one of anticipation. She felt better.

_Those Sinscales are gonna make a run to their mommy when I 'm through with them!_

* * *

Cid looked around at his crew. They were all busying themselves with work to take their mind off that ominous thought: Will we die? 

But he had already planned this out. A stirring speech was all it took. He picked up the nearby radio.

"People," he started, shuffling his feet to the head of the bridge, "You know how I hate making big speeches during times like this."

Silence greeted him.

"All I know is that once we're through with this, we won't haveta' fucking worry about Sin anymore. What I mean is, good luck."

He looked around him. His crew was all gazing at him with fawning expressions. They were all smiling, showing no other emotion.

He smiled back. He was their commander, and they had been through hell with him and were still loyal to him. They were ready to fight.

Then, a voice brought them all back to their stations.

"Large heat signature detected at 12 o'clock! Approaching fast!"

"Alright guys, make it happen!"

* * *

Gippal felt the full throttle of the aircraft as it lurched out of the hanger. The plan was so damn simple that everything could screw up. 

All he and his men had to worry about was covering and drawing fire from the "Morningstars" while they unleashed their deadly payload of MA-22s "Mistral" Advanced Medium Ranged Missiles onto the Sinspawn on Sin. The airship would then focus on taking Sin itself down.

Simple plan wasn't it? They said they had a secret weapon, but he never trusted secret weapons. The AFS was a secret weapon, but it was below expectations. The APU at some point of time was also a secret weapon, but they didn't have much of an impact on defending Home either.

He saw the recognizable shroud in the sky up ahead. It was Sin. It was casting some kinda demonic magic around it, making the sky around it blacken with dark clouds.

_Dark clouds won't kill people. I do!_

Then, a voice sounded out through his radio.

"Heads up people! We got a shit-storm of Sinscales!"

He put his HUD (Heads up Display) into full zoom. What he saw was horrifying. The darkness wasn't clouds. It was Sinscales. Then, they fired, launching weird spine like projectiles.

"Target aquired, engage! Engage!" he roared into the radio while desperately maneuvering his fighter to dodge the oncoming horde of spines.

The radio was blaring the cries of agony from other pilots. He glanced to his left and saw the "Mockingbird" on his left get torn to shreds by several spines. It descended into the sea of clouds as a blazing fireball.

He pushed the throttle to full and rockted past his enemy so fast that the Scale didn't know what was happening. The organic-born killer jinked left, then rolled right before entering and diving, decelerating a tight right turn. Gippal stayed with him, and as they leveled out of the turn, triggered a burst of machinegun fire. Silver bolts pounded on the Scale's tough carapace, easily disintegrating it with 8.34mm Titanium Vulcan Cannon rounds. He then loosed a missile at another Sinscale. It let out a shriek before dissolving into pyreflies in an inferno of angry flames.

* * *

Nhadala was at first shocked at the immense amount of Sinscales they were up against. She panicked and missed some of them, but soon experience kicked in and she was busy kicking Sinscale butt. 

She was working like a machine, blasting Sinscale after Sinscale. The smell of gunpowder and the Sinscales dying shrieks increased her adrenaline level to dramatic proportions.

Then, she saw a great mass of Sinscales rushing towards the bridge. Turning her guns loose on them, she gunned down several, but there were still more coming. She had to stop them, no matter what. The bridge was at stake.

Suddenly, the Sinscales were consumed in a fury of hellish flames. From beyond the explosion emerged a "Mockingbird".

"Nice shot," she whispered over her radio.

"Thanks," came the reply.

Gippal and his flight, Red Flight, were pushing deeper and deeper into the swarm of Sinscales. There were originally twenty of them, but two "Mockingbirds" and one "Morningstar" got shot down, leaving seventeen.

Finally, they were in range of the Sinspawn on Sin. In an attempt to defend themsleves, the Sinspawn (they kinda look like Sinspawn Genasis, the one in Kilika) loosed balls of acid at the fighters, scoring several hits.

"Rob!" he yelled, but he knew Rob was already dead.

He tore his eyes away from the dying fighter and turned his attention to the Sinspawn.

"Do it!" he commanded.

The "Morningstars" let their Missiles cruise through the air and looked in satisfaction as they slammed home into their target.

But to their horror, the Sinspawn merely shook a bit, and then resumed firing acid attacks.

_They never told us about this…_

* * *

Cid stared at the battle that was unfolding in front of him. He gave a grunt of frustration when a "Mockingbird" got blasted to shrapnel by the spines of a marauding Scale, the grunt then turned into one of satisfaction when Scale in turn got reduced to pyreflies by his anti-aircraft guns after it paused to celebrate its kill. 

He was being hounded to death by his crew, yelling damage reports and reporting the latest casualties.

He had made one serious miscalculation: the number of Sinscales. The Scales were preventing enough "Morningstars" from getting in range of the Sinspawn. But then again, even if they did, there was no telling if they'd get blow to bits.

His main cannons, the 38 cm SK C/34s, were on the verge of overheating. They had been bombarding Sin since the start of the battle. He'd had reports about a shell cooking off in the barrel of one of the batteries, disabling it for a few minutes.

He'd gotten so desperate to destroy the Sinspawn that he even ordered his secondary batteries to open up. The 22 cm SK C/28s were nothing compared to their bigger cousins, their shells barely even scratched Sin's surface, let alone deal damage.

"Scales incoming at 2 o' clock! They...they're gonna cast self destruct!" yelled the technician.

"Yevon! Evasive maneuvers!" ordered Cid.

Everyone held on tight as the massive ship lurched to a side to dodge the live missiles. Despite Brother's best efforts, one still made contact and the entire ship was shaken violently by the explosion.

"Hull damage has exceeded 40!" the technician reported.

"Father!" Brother called from the pilot's seat, "We gotta do something now! Blow an AFS or something!"

"Dumbass! We can't blow an AFS, it'll knock out every plane out there," he yelled in response.

"What about the BFGs? Can we blast them now and get it over with?" Brother asked again.

"That's a great plan doofus! The Scales will take the breach in our armor to rip up this ship!" he yelled back again.

"Load the Bloodhound tubes three to eleven! Hopefully this will give us enough firepower to knock em' out!" he commanded. The weapons officer uttered an affirmative, then proceed to bark orders of his own.

_My original agenda was to sit back and react to changes on the battlefield as the battle unfolded. It really unfolding on my ass now…_

* * *

Gippal guided his craft gracefully around the Sinspawn, dodging the now-suicidal Sinscales. They had apparently decided shooting him down would take too long, so now they were crossing in front of him in an attempt to cause a mid-flight collision. He caught a glimpse of a Scale out of the corner of his eye as it started its attack run and fired its spines. 

Gippal juked his fighter downwards, causing the spines to sail clean past him, but another Scale failed to notice them. Still on its "kamikaze" run, it flew straight into the path of the spines. Giving a screech of pain, the impaled Scale launched spines of its own wildly without even aiming. Most of them found their ways to the Scales other buddies of course.

He thought he was home free as he switched to his missiles and bombarded the Sinspawn relentlessly. But then he saw three larger-than-usual Scales get launched from Sin. They unfolded to form larger, more powerful Scales.

They called them "Moths" despite the fact that they looked like giant bats from hell. The shrill cry of one was enough to scare the wits out of an entire squadron. Now he was up against three.

He fired his machineguns, trying to cause as much damage to the Sinspawn as possible while still weaving left and ducking right, in an attempt to loose the Moths, but they stubbornly stuck right on his tail. Flares launched by the Moths assaulted his fighter's Grade-A Titanium covering, pelting it away until the delicate inner wiring and hydraulics began to show.

Then, the Sinspawn turned its attention to him. It launched a ball of acid, intent on melting the lone fighter. Without thinking, Gippal had his fighter do a ninety-degree nose dive, dodging the acid with inches to spare. His pursuers weren't so lucky. They all got melted by acid.

"Holy shit Cap'n! Did you just get three Moth kills!" blared the voice of his comrade over the radio.

"I hell did, Andre, I hell did. Now get your ass over here, I need some backup!" he replied.

Andre gave an affirmative and fell into position behind Gippal. Then, another voice blared over the radio, this one more disturbing.

"All units around Sinspawn B-1 listen up! The commander has ordered a Bloodhound barrage of the area! You are advised to stay clear of the area," said a female voice.

"Yevon! Let's get outta here Andre!"

He was too late. The Bloodhound cruise missiles smashed onto the Sinspawn in a brilliant display of fireworks. Gippal felt the full throttle of the explosion and rode the impact until it finally died down. It was only then that he realized that he was smack in the middle of the swarm of Scales.

"Red lead! You have gazillions of Scales on you. Would you like backup?" asked a familiar voice.

"This is Red lead. Don't bother sending any kinda support. I got a deathwish!" At that moment, he kicked in his afterburners and rocketed towards the bleeding Sinspawn. (As in the one that suffered the full brunt of the barrage)

"Red lead, what the hell do you think you're doing?" asked another voice, this one he recognized as Cid's.

"What else? I'm gonna crash this bird into the spawn, it'll kill it for sure!" he replied.

"What the…" Cid stammered.

"If my old man can do it, so can I," he said, his voice full of determination.

"Take care of Rikku for me," he continued in a hushed tone so that only Cid could hear.

Then, another voice sounded over the radio, "Gippal, don't do it!" It was Rikku's.

"Rikku! Rikku, I have to do this, it's our only chance!" he yelled.

"Stay alive and live Gippal, nothing's gonna change with your death, but as long as you live, you can change something!" she yelled back, voice full of emotion.

"Rikku, I've come so far, I gotta do this, its too good a chance to pass up," he replied.

"Then I'll take it for you," she said.

Upon the flick of a switch, twenty seven missiles roared to life and streaked from Rikku's "Morningstar" towards the Sinspawn. The great beast roared in pain as the missiles collided with it before slumping lifelessly to the ground.

There was a chorus of cheers and reports of the death of a Sinspawn.

Inside, Gippal was glad. The thought of loosing Rikku of the rest of eternity wasn't a pleasant one.

* * *

Cid was getting frustrated. Although one Sinspawn had been defeated, there were still four more. The sudden emergence of so many Moths didn't help either. He was loosing fighters like nuts and more and more of his gun were going offline. He had to do something fast. 

Now he had two options: continue fighting for that small chance of victory, or retreat and hope that Sin wouldn't chase after them. This was one of the most stressful times as the leader of the Al-Bhed, even more stressful than the Defense of Home. Not only the fate of the Al-Bhed depended on his decision, but the fate of the entire Spira.

_If this was a fairytale, something miraculous would happen and the tide of the battle would quickly change. The problem is, this is not a fairytale. Damnit! _

He slammed his fist onto the deskboard of his Captain's seat, only to see that he had slammed into a button.

Instantly, the alien sound of the Hymn of the Fayth echoed throughout the sky. He was about to turn the speakers off when he noticed something. The Sinscales and the Sinspawn were no longer moving. In fact, the Sinscales had all closed up to their "capsule" form and were plummeting to the ground in droves.

"What the…" he muttered.

"Of course!" yelped Brother excitedly, "The kid said his old man was Sin and his old man liked this song, so wouldn't he stop to listen or something?"

"I see…Well? What are you waiting for? Focus all firepower on the Sinspawns!" ordered Cid

There was a flurry of affirmatives over the radio as the surface of Sin was alight with firepower. Surprisingly, the Sinspawn didn't react to being attacked. They seemed to have lost a great amount of vitality and quickly fell to the Al-Bhed's guns.

"Ready the Big Freakin' Guns(Earlier referred to as the BFGs)! We're gonna blast that whale to kingdom come!" ordered Cid.

The armor around the bottom part of the Airship slowly opened up revealing two monstrous lance-like positron beam cannons. Rainbow-colored bolts danced around the lance-tips as the beam cannon charged up. Then, when at the peak of its charge, it fired.

A brilliant streak of energy shrieked across the sky, slamming itself fully home into Sin's gargantuan body. Sin gave a shrill call in pain and plummeted to the ground, landing in the sea near Bevelle, kicking up waves which gushed in every direction.

As the airship descended, the full extent of the damage became clear. There was a massive hole on Sin's body, big enough for the Airship to go in. That was their entrance.

_We've done our part Yuna. Now, it's all up to you. _

* * *

A/N: That sapped me out…So we're gonna skip forth to Seymour, as in the Seymour in Sin, on the stage like thingy. The last time you're gonna see him in this Fic anyway… 

"Ah Lady Yuna, so nice you could join me," smirked Seymour.

"Yevon, you don't give up do you?" commented Tidus, giving Seymour the get-outta-my-way-or-you'll-eat-my-steel look.

"Of course I don't. Where would the world be if everyone quit?" he replied brilliantly.

"Kimahri give you choice! Move or die!" roared Kimahri.

His answer was too smart to be his own, "I confer with death itself, what could you possibly do to harm me?"

"Seymour," asked Rikku, "Did you think of all those answers?"

"No, not really, Tromell thought of them and wrote them down on this piece of paper," he produced a crumple piece of paper from the folds of his robe and waved it about above his head.

"That explains it," muttered Yuna.

"So what you got Seymour?" questioned Wakka, "Another fuel guzzling contraption that looks like crap?"

"I got this!" he announced excitedly, producing yet another remote control from his robe. Upon pushing the sole red button on the console, a great roar of engines droned out all the eerie sounds echoing within the hollow shell of Sin.

Then, it descended.

A great black mech slammed onto the ground, shaking the earth violently. It was immense, and the party looked at it in awe. The only word that could be used to describe it was: majestic. Wait a minute, _nearly_ majestic. Only one thing ruined the entire work of art. The teddy bear head.

Trying to ignore the head, Tidus' eyes darted around the mech, looking for strengths to avoid and weaknesses to exploit. It had eight immense shoulder mounted cannons, an additional three on its torso and to finish it off, each one of its fingers was a gun. It had four more rail guns attached to its hips and seemed to had rocket launchers concealed under every piece of its armour.

"Meet Mini Pooky!" introduced Seymour.

"We already met him," corrected Lulu.

"No, you're wrong. The one you met on Gagazet was the Mini Pooky X2000. This is the Mini Pooky X2001!" he replied.

"What should we do Auron?" Rikku asked.

"Nothing, we'll wait for him to run outta gas," he answered.

"Ah! The Mini Pooky X2001 is nuclear powered, meaning it doesn't run out of gas," Seymour remarked very matter-of-factly.

"Plan B?" Rikku asked again.

"Still wait, he won't make it into the cockpit," Auron answered again.

"I beat you to it!" exclaimed Seymour, "I installed this pulley here."

He grabbed onto a wire and was slowly raised up towards the cockpit. Still, despite this new device, he still hit his head onto _something_ every time he tried to get up. Thankfully the Mini Pooky X2001 was nuclear powered, if not it would, like its predecessor, have run out of gas. Seymour still took half an hour to get into the cockpit.

"Now let's fight!"

* * *

It wasn't long before the clear victor emerged. Seymour was just too powerful in his new toy. Lulu, Wakka, Rikku and Tidus were all sprawled on the floor, battered and exhausted. No matter what they threw at the machine, it seemed to have no effect. The monster's armour was too thick. 

Maybe the fight wasn't a fair one. Auron and Kimahri didn't take part at all. They were defending Yuna from the marauding energy bolts that would have vapourized her in an instant.

Yuna tried to call the Aeons, but strangely, they didn't respond.

"Sir Auron, you turning into a fiend now will be useful," she muttered in between pants and gasps for breath.

"I can't! I sense the Farplane nearby. If I transform here, I'll get sent!" he yelled back in reply, casting a Sentinel spell to ward off another energy bolt.

"Yevon! What we gonna do then?" Yuna cried.

Then, Seymour stopped his barrage.

"Ha ha! I have beaten you all in fair combat! I am now the strongest in Spira! I am Sin's chosen! None shall stand before us!" he declared.

Slowly, Tidus picked himself up from the floor.

_I will not be beaten by this weakling!_

He stumbled to his feet.

_I will defeat him!_

Painfully, he limped towards Seymour.

_This bastard won't get away!_

He gave Seymour a glare that drove right to the back of his skull. Instantly, Seymour knew Tidus meant business.

Tidus then turned back to address Yuna, "I'm sorry Yuna. Since Bahamut told me what actually happened on Gagazet, I swore not to use it ever, in hopes of not hurting you. But this bastard has forced me."

With that, Tidus threw back his head and gave a blood curling scream as his entire body felt as if it was being impaled by a thousand knives.

Bahamut's words instantly made sense to Yuna, "Tidus! No!"

These were the last words she uttered before slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

When Seymour saw Tidus get up despite the beating he took, he got freaked out. Tidus' glare didn't help either. Now, Tidus has disappeared. What was in his place was a demon. It stared hard at him with its red demonic eyes; he could feel his life force and his will to fight getting drained away. Then, the demon disappeared. 

"Huh?" he muttered to himself.

Then, the mech was shaken, as if something had struck it hard on the back. Turning around, Seymour realized that in the blink of an eye, Tidus had managed to get behind him and strike.

Tidus then started his frenzied barrage. In one mighty swing, the mech's arm was sliced clean off. Seymour fired blindly in the general direction if Tidus, only to find that bhis weapons had been decommissioned. Tidus had sliced them all off.

He tried desperately to control the mech, but it was no use. Tidus was striking too fast, too hard and at too many areas. Then with a mighty kick, the mech slammed onto the ground with a deafening crash.

Seymour then looked on in horror as the airborne Tidus curled into a ball, concentrating a ball of demonic energy in front of him. Then, uncurling himself in one quick motion, he leashed the ball of energy onto Seymour. The great orb slammed into the mech's nuclear reactor, causing a great explosion that blinded all of the party.

* * *

When the flash died down, all that was left of the mech was a smoldering, charred heap of ruins. Somewhere in the heap was the body of Seymour. No one could have survived that explosion. 

Slowly, Yuna began to come round.

"Wha…What happened," she muttered, looking around, she saw the great heap pf metal, "Where's Tidus!" she shrieked.

"Right here…" came a weak reply.

Tidus slowly limped towards the party, using his sword as a walking stick. Then, his legs gave way, but he was caught instantly by the strong arms of Kimahri.

Auron then motioned for Kimahri to rest Tidus against a piece of the mech.

"What in Yevon's name happened," he asked, glaring at Tidus menacingly.

"It's a long story," he replied before exploding into a series of coughs.

"We've got time," replied Auron.

"Fine…" then, he started his fascinating tale on how he got his powers and about Bahamut's instructions and advice to him.

"It seems that the prophecy was true after all," gasped Lulu.

"What prophecy?" asked Tidus.

"It is said that there a half man, half Aeon will destroy Sin forever. We thought it might have been a summoner or something, but we never expected you…" she was cut of by Wakka.

"Of course! The Rebellion! It said that its wielder would bring the eternal calm!" he exclaimed.

"Lets not jump to conclusions," said Tidus as he got up.

"One thing though. You said the more you use it, the more Yuna will become closer to dying right?" asked Auron.

"Erm…Yeah," he replied.

"Use your powers as a last resort. The last thing we want is the cycle to be renewed."

* * *

The party left the sea of sorrow and proceeds over to the great Tower of Death. They were to preoccupied by Tidus and his new powers to notice a swarm of pyreflies gathering together amongst the charred ruins of the Mini Pooky X2001. 

The pyreflies slowly formed up, until they took the shape of…Seymour.

"Mwahahaha! I told them that they could not do anything to me! I am Sin's chosen! I am the evil of evils! I am despair embodied! I am Seymour, darkness incarnate-" Seymour's self-declaration of supreme rulership over nothingness was abruptly ended by a sharp pain in his torso.

Something had stabbed him in the stomach. Something really familiar. He had felt this before, but where? And when?

Then, a weird shroud in front of him flashed slightly, before revealing what it concealed.

It was the Big Bad Wolf.

Seymour wanted to scream, but a slight twist of Dachande's wrists silenced him.

"Mommy…" was all he could mutter, before slipping into total, eternal darkness.

* * *

The party was about to enter the Tower of Death when Tidus suddenly had the feeling that after he entered this place, he wouldn't exit. 

He wanted to see this wonderful place once again, just once.

He'd met so many great people here, the party, the Aurochs, the Al-Bhed…If he was gonna disappear after they thrashed his old man, he'd disappear. He didn't wanna leave without saying goodbye. Reluctantly, he spoke what was in his heart.

"Yuna. If you don't mind, can we fly about Spira again?" he asked.

"Why? We're already so close," replied Rikku.

"After we defeat Sin, everything will change. This will be our last chance to see Spira as it originally was," remarked Auron.

"Very well," said Yuna, "Get Cid to bring down the airship."

"You know as well as I do that after we thrash Jecht you'll disappear, don't you?" whispered Auron.

"Yeah, that's why I wanna see Spira again," replied Tidus.

"So, you've become attached to Spira I see. Like father like son."

* * *

A/N: In the bridge of the Airship. They are currently over the Calm Lands. 

Cid was grumbling Yuna's decision to take a tour before dealing the final blow. Although she did have a point, Sin wasn't going anywhere anyway.

Then, the radar detected something weird.

"Father! We got something strange right below us!" called Brother.

"You sure it's not the electrical storm that's cranking out our radar?" he asked, taking note of the black clouds gathering and blocking out the sunlight.

"Positive, if it can work in the Thunder Plains, it should be able to works here," was the reply, "Sphere Oscilo Finder's bringing it up now."

What was displayed was a great beast over two meters tall. It was clad from head to toe in weird machine armour and had weapons sprouting out of every available space.

"That's-" Brother was cut off.

"The creature from Gagazet," said Yuna coldly.

"He wants me," announced Tidus, "I'll go fight."

"But Tidus-" Yuna wanted to protest, but Tidus was already suited up and had opened the Airship hatch.

"Don't stop me Yuna, I've made up my mind. No more fun and games. I'll kill this bastard today, or I'll die trying."

With that, Tidus leapt out the hatch. Yuna tried to give chase and was intent on grabbing him and pulling him back, but all she heard was a blood curling scream.

Then, she blacked out.

* * *

A/N: Doesn't this just scream final fight scene ahead? If it doesn't, I've not done my job well enough... Anyway I always play a fool for the preview of the next chapter, but since this'll be the last time I'm doing it, I'll take it seriously this time.

The two greatest forces from two planetsare on a collision course. There will be no rules, no limits. Nothing will be held back. All boundaries will be broken. Both will enter the arena of death, but only one will emerge alive. The final battle beckons.


	18. Forces Collide

Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapters for Disclaimer.

* * *

Chapter 18: Forces Collide

Lightning flashed. Thunder roared. Raindrops pelted down relentlessly on the grassy plains of the Calm Lands. A lone figure strode forward to meet his destiny. The sound of his footsteps seemed to hammer at his ears like pile drivers, and he couldn't hear anything else.

As he continued walking, he remembered. Remembered the pain and suffering of the ceremony of the Final Aeon, the burning sensation and bone-deep chill of a hand being cut off, the raw agony of transformation.

Tidus clenched his Machina hand into a fist. He knew that this battle could very well be his last.

Either way, he had a score to settle.

As he climbed over a small hill, his foe came into sight. Dachande was standing in the rain, undaunted by the pouring sheets of water pelting down mercilessly upon him.

As Tidus strode forward until they were standing a few meters apart, Dachande reached over onto his right shoulder (or was it the left?) and pulled off his plasmacaster, discarding it onto the ground. He did the same for his smart disc, speargun, and bandolier of traps.

Tidus got the message and threw Ebony& Ivory onto the ground as well as his shotgun.

Dachande examined his opponent's new form. There were several similarities to the form in which his prey had fought him at Mt. Gagazet, but there were a few added features as well.

For starters, the white streaks along its appendages now seemed to literally glow with power. It now had a raging red-colored battle aura surrounding it, and if he increased his mask's optical magnification enough, he could see that there was an extreme shimmering effect around it.

It seemed as though the very fabric of reality was bending around it. Dachande dismissed these details as minor. The fight came first.

Both opponents pulled out their main melee weapons, Tidus with the Caladbolg, and Dachande with his Combistick.

_This ends today._ Tidus thought as he and Dachande charged straight at each other. Both of them lacked subtlety, only brute force was used in this fight.

Tidus expertly parried Dachande's first stab, and he countered with three quick but weak stabs of his own. Dachande's armor suffered the brunt of the attack, allowing a quick recovery from the blows.

Dachande swung his Combistick violently at Tidus' head, but Tidus quickly crouched under the blow, the swing passing harmlessly over him. While he rose from his crouch, Tidus took the chance to land another two quick hits while Dachande tried to recover from his missed swing.

Suddenly, the Combistick came flying out of nowhere and Tidus instinctively raised his left arm to ward off the blow. As he quickly pushed the Combistick away, he jumped backwards when Dachande's wristblades came swinging at him from below.

Another swing, and Tidus raised the Caladbolg in a defensive position to deflect the Combistick. He quickly countered with a high thrust, one that Dachande easily parried. Tidus blocked another two strikes, but a failed attempt at a stab to Dachande's head cost him a brutal blow to his chest as Dachande countered.

Tidus immediately blocked the following stab to his head and lashed out with the Caladbolg, scoring a slight hit to Dachande's shoulder. Then, his enhanced senses, combined with the adrenaline rush he received, slowed the world down, and he could see Dachande's right arm thrusting forward, wristblades extended, in slow-motion.

He grabbed his arm, pushed it aside, and brought his left leg up in a sudden kick that caught Dachande in the stomach, stunning him for half a second.

Half a second was all Tidus needed. He immediately launched himself into a flurry of devastating stabs that struck Dachande over and over.

Quickly recovering from the strikes, Dachande swung his Combistick again at Tidus' head. Tidus easily ducked under that blow, then used Dachande's own move against him, swinging the Caladbolg at his neck.

Dachande ducked under the blow, and gathered his strength. With his powerful arms charged with energy, he brought the Combistick swinging downward with massive crushing force. Little did he know that Tidus did the very same.

The two weapons impacted with such great force that both combatants were propelled backward several feet, their weapons flying out of their hands and away.

Tidus flipped around in mid-air and landed gracefully on his feet. He quickly glanced up just in time to see Dachande plow straight into the ground, sending up several tons of earth and soil. A moment later, he shot out of the miniature crater that he had created, jetpacks roaring. Tidus took to the air using his own demonic wings.

The two slammed into each other with titanic force, forcing the air and rain away from their position, creating a sphere of vacuum.

Then the sphere collapsed upon itself, and the air returned and the rain resumed pelting.

It was all Tidus could do to hold on to Dachande's armor and not let go, but Dachande was raining blows down upon him and he couldn't do anything about it. Just as he was about to let go and launch a viscous counter, Dachande grabbed him by the neck and gave such a hard head butt that Tidus was knocked silly for a few seconds.

It was in that few seconds that Dachande had whirled around and threw Tidus over his shoulder, sending him crashing through a nearby cliff wall. (You know, those cliffs at the side of the Calm Lands?)

Tidus felt a wall first crack, then shatter beneath his incredibly strong back, but the numerous stalactites and stalagmites in the cavern that he just crashed into did what the wall couldn't. As Tidus landed on the floor and skidded to a halt, Dachande aimed for the hole and set his jetpacks to turbo mode.

Quickly getting back onto his feet, Tidus saw Dachande hurtling toward him at incredible speed. Reflexively, he jumped upward and brought his legs up to his chest. Dachande missed him by a millimeter, and he shot into the cavern, looping around a stalagmite and coming to a slow halt.

Across the cavern, Tidus quickly brought himself up onto the same level as Dachande and set his arms into a ready position. They both hovered a few feet above the ground for a few moments, analyzing each other's battle stances.

Tidus couldn't see nor sense any emotion behind the faceless mask that his opponent wore, but he knew that Dachande was pissed, because of the way that the 'eyes' of the mask were fixated on him and only him, he could figure that he might be dead in the next ten seconds.

_Well, that's not gonna happen. Not in this lifetime._ Tidus thought to himself as he back flipped and dug both feet into the wall, just above the hole that he made.

The sheer force of the kick-jump that Tidus pulled off created a literal spider-web of cracks in the cavern wall, and Tidus launched himself at Dachande. And Dachande did the same. Once again, the two impacted with such great force that both were sent flying backwards several feet.

Dachande had the fortune of merely landing roughly on his back, while Tidus had to endure the grueling impact of crashing through several stalactites before slamming back into the center of the spider-web pattern that he had created and falling to the floor. He tried to land on his feet, but the fight had weakened him to such an extent that the moment his feet touched the floor, his knees buckled and he collapsed.

* * *

Dachande readily endured his bone-crunching impact against the floor, and quickly scrambled to his feet. He saw his prey still lying facedown on the floor and struggling to get up. 

"**GET UP! I'm not finished with you yet!" **Dachande roared in his native tongue. He didn't expect Tidus to respond, but as though he had understood, he spat out the blood in his mouth and steadily got up, striking a pose with the outermost four fingers of his outstretched hand bent inward.

The signal just simply screamed _Bring it on, bitch._

Dachande allowed himself a small grin of satisfaction behind his mask, and then charged forward.

Tidus feinted a left hook, and while Dachande raised his arm to block the fake blow, Tidus threw quick lightning-fast kicks in rapid succession before launching himself into the air and throwing all his strength behind the reverse mid-air roundhouse that landed on Dachande's neck.

Once again throwing himself into the air, Tidus spun himself in a wheel-like motion, both legs swinging at Dachande's head. Dachande ducked under the two blows and was about to launch a counter when Tidus threw yet another roundhouse as he landed on the ground, forcing Dachande to duck again.

The fight continued like this for the next few minutes, Tidus attacking with such speed and vigor, always keeping Dachande on the defensive, never giving him a chance to strike back.

Gradually, the speed and power of Tidus' blows increased, moving from two blows per second to five blows per second, until he finally overloaded Dachande's defense.

So Dachande used his defense to attack.

Parrying one of Tidus' punches, he extended his wristblades and blocked another of Tidus blows with his wristblade arm. Then, sliding it forward, he carved twin gashes that were both deep and wide in Tidus left arm.

Tidus bit back the cry of pain and retreated for a split second before plunging back into the fray. He threw his left fist forward, but Dachande caught it in a hold and attempted to flip Tidus onto the ground.

Tidus caught his balance in mid-air, landed gracefully on his feet and wrenched his arm out of Dachande's grip. Using his momentum, he swung his right arm forward, the hook catching Dachande on the side of his face and stunning him for a moment.

Tidus used that moment to throw three solid kicks, the first hitting Dachande's neck, the second stunning him even further in the stomach, and the final one hitting him in the face with such force that his mask was thrown out of alignment.

Tidus took a moment to bask in the glory of his momentary victory, then he swung his still-raised leg back and forth, hitting Dachande's face again and again until the mask came loose.

This was the first time that Tidus was able to take a clear glimpse of the Predator's face beneath the mask.

"You're one _ugly _motherfucker." Tidus muttered before spinning around and delivering one final, brutal kick that sent Dachande through the wall, creating another hole that was right next to the one that Tidus had created.

Hurtling horizontally back into the Calm Lands, Dachande activated his jetpacks and slowed his flying down until he came to an unsteady halt. Since he had lost his mask, he squinted through the rain and barely managed to see Tidus staring straight at him through the hole.

Bracing himself for impact, Dachande pushed his jetpacks to full throttle and shot forward. Tidus jumped out of the hole and, with one mighty flap of his demonic wings, transformed into a red-black blur that the Dachande found nearly impossible to track.

The two slammed into each other, creating another of the vacuum spheres, then they slammed back together.

This time, Tidus did not try to hold on. Instead, he focused on keeping his ground while blocking Dachande's blows and countering with his own. The altitude of the battle literally increased gradually, until the duelists had risen above the clouds and now did battle in the sky.

The two wrestled around in mid-air, trying to toss the other away for a few seconds before disengaging and circling around each other, rising higher still. Dachande threw himself forward with a viscous three-punch combo. Tidus managed to block the first two, but the last punch, which was a brutal uppercut, cut under his defense sent him tumbling up and away from his opponent, flipping end over end.

Quickly reorienting himself, he thrust out both arms to ensure balance, and then blasted forward like a rocket. Dachande braced himself to parry what he assumed were oncoming punches, but Tidus had another attack in mind.

Raising his legs upward, Tidus' kicks flew over Dachande's low defense and struck him in the head thrice. Now it was Dachande's turn to be send tumbling away in mid-air.

Several seconds and seven flips later, Dachande threw out his left arm and balanced himself. Gathering his strength and bracing himself for impact, he set his jetpacks into overdrive, blasting forward at a speed comparable to Tidus'.

Tidus saw the incredibly fast blur coming straight for him and knew that the next blow he dealt might decide the outcome of the fight. If his counter was strong enough, he might be able to turn the tables, but his strength was already taxed to its limits, and he didn't know how much longer he could last.

He readied himself and, when Dachande was about to slam into him, he lashed out with all his strength.

* * *

"I don't know where they are. I lost them." Rikku admitted in defeat after several minutes of scanning the Calm Lands in vain with her binoculars. 

"You lost them!" Wakka exclaimed. "How could you possible lose them? This is as good as saying Tidus has already lost!"

"I don't know! I tried searching that bubble-thingy that their impact created, but I couldn't find them!" Rikku protested heatedly, resuming her frantic search of the Calm Lands.

"My gut says he's still up." Auron muttered.

"Wait! Look! Over there!" Lulu cried out in surprise.

She didn't have to point. The object of her attention was so huge that nobody could have missed it. Another vacuum sphere had formed from a tremendous impact, but this one was much larger than the previous ones. This one easily encompassed at least half the Calm Lands, and just stopped short of enveloping the airship.

Then the sphere collapsed, and Rikku immediately zoomed in on the two tiny figures that were in the center of it.

The sight the greeted her nearly made her heart stop.

_No._

_NO!_

* * *

Tidus fell downward with grace of a swan, and Dachande hovered above him, triumphant. Then he threw himself downward at Tidus, catching him and accelerating them towards the ground. 

Tidus feebly attempted to break free from Dachande's grip, but the Predator's arms were like solid bands of steel.

The ground rushed up to meet them, and a huge shockwave emanated from the point of impact.

* * *

"He's down, isn't he?" Auron asked. Rikku's mouth remained closed. 

"Then it is finished."

Three seconds of silence.

"No." Rikku barely managed to force the words out. The rest of the party remained silent.

"Maybe he's still alive. I saw a small pit created by the impact. Maybe he's still in there, still fighting."

"Very well." Auron said. "Cid, bring us closer so we can view what's going on inside that pit."

Rikku kept her binoculars trained on the pit, never moving her view from it, until she could see what was inside. Her hopes of Tidus still being alive went down the drain when she saw what was inside.

* * *

Pain. Pain everywhere. Tidus opened his eyes, only to be greeted with more pain. Forcing the pain out of his awareness, he dimly noted that Dachande was standing over him, fists clenched and wristblades extended. 

Weakly rolling over onto his stomach, he feebly tried to crawl away, only to realize that he was trapped in a pit of some sort. Well, if he couldn't get some respite, then he would make do without it.

Struggling to his feet and leaning against the pit wall for support, he saw Dachande coming straight for him, wristblades raised. Preparing himself for the most desperate fight of his life, Tidus threw his arms upward to block the blows that rained downed upon him.

Left hook, left block. Right hook, right block. Low uppercut… Okay, that was unexpected. Tidus doubled over with pain from the blow, but he quickly regained his wits and blocked the second right hook Dachande sent at him.

Another left hook, but the block that Tidus performed wasn't feeble, but solid and unbelievably strong, backed by raw willpower.

Then, with supernatural strength, he parried with such force that the raindrops near their hands were expelled away, and Tidus right fist flew forward, splattering raindrops in its wake. The fist made contact with Dachande's face, and Tidus relished the sound of bones being broken.

Dachande was knocked silly by the blow, and he stumbled about for a bit, trying to regain his wits. Tidus made good use of Dachande's stumbling, as a disoriented target was an easy target.

Both fists impacted on Dachande's armor, shattering it and propelling him straight into the pit wall, where the force of the blow dug him several feet into it.

The adrenaline rush wearing off, Tidus stumbled on his feet and nearly collapsed. His arms fell to his sides like rubber tubes, and they hung loosely. Slowly looking up, he could see the Airship slowly coming towards him.

_That was for you, Yuna. This fight is over._ Tidus thought to himself.

Then, rumbling caught his attention. Rumbling that was coming from the hole that Dachande had created.

_Or… maybe not. Oh shit…_

Dachande erupted from the hole, roaring madly, flying straight at Tidus.

Already weakened by the extensive fighting, Tidus could do nothing to stop the Predator from slamming into him with incredible force, forcing them both to the ground.

Tidus exhaled explosively as Dachande slammed into him, and the impact against the ground only made things worse. Forcing his eyes open, he saw for a split second Dachande with his fist raised, lightning flashing against the background. Then the fist came down and Tidus' world exploded into stars for a moment.

In that moment, Dachande had hauled Tidus to his feet and now held him in the air by his throat. Tidus clawed weakly at the arm that held him, but it was no use. Another savage punch, and Tidus world vanished in an explosion of red.

Dachande watched with satisfaction as his prey's limp body slid across the ground and hit the opposite wall of the pit. He strode forward, intent on extracting his trophy, when he realized that the battle aura surrounding his prey was no longer red, but white.

Slowly, Tidus' body floated into the air, until he was hovering several feet above the ground. Then, the aura ceased to emanate. Tidus' eyes opened, but instead of their usual sapphire blue, they were now a dazzling gold. Suddenly, the streaks along its appendages flared with power, then dimmed, and a sphere of white energy formed in its right hand.

_This is not good… _Dachande thought to himself.

That right hand slammed the ball of energy into the ground violently, and then the ground erupted in a Volcano of energy. The sheer force of the eruption threw Dachande into the air and out of the pit, disorienting him.

Another flare, then dim, and a meteor of pure energy hit Dachande, vaporizing what little armor he had left, and inflicting third-degree burns all over his skin. Barely managing reorient himself, he found himself being slammed into the ground with a diagonal kick from Tidus.

Then, Tidus threw him into the air with a viscous uppercut, and gave him an extremely pumped up Izuna, rising up much higher than normal before slamming into the ground with a brutal impact, driving nearly all the life out of the Predator.

_This was definitely not in the plan…_ Dachande realized that he was beaten. Now, he had only one thing left to do.

* * *

Tidus landed lightly on his feet, and the adrenaline wore off, allowing him to regain his senses. Shaking his head to clear his vision, he noticed Dachande lying on the ground, inputting something into the gadget on his wrist. 

_What the heck's he doin'?_ Tidus thought to himself. Then, Dachande started laughing. Tidus shuddered at the sound of it. He knew that laugh. It was his.

Then, he noticed a strange beeping coming from the wrist computer.

_That can't be good. Oh shit…_Spinning around on his heel, he dashed away from his opponent. When he had built up enough speed, he took to the air, beating his demonic wings madly in a desperate bid to clear the blast zone of the self-destruct in time.

No such luck. Even as he transformed into a supersonic roar that blasted across the Calm Lands, the blast was gaining on him. He pushed on even further, accelerating past the point of Mach 2, but it still wasn't fast enough. The wall of fire made contact with him, and after that, he disappeared into the fireball.

* * *

"Any sign of him yet?" 

"Not yet."

"What's the point of searchin' for him? Nothing could've survived that explosion, ya? How can he still be alive?"

"Shut it, Wakka. Remember that Yuna can hear you."

"Oh. Right. Sorry, Yuna."

"Wakka, shut it."

Wakka keyed off his walkie-talkie and bent down further. He scrutinized thecharred piece of metaleven more closely.

"Whaddya know?" He muttered to himself after he identified the object as what appeared to be a telescope. Noticing a button on what seemed to be the handguard, he asked himself the question every fool asked themselves _why not?_ and pushed the button. Thank goodness his face wasn't near either end of the object, because blades suddenly extended from both sides.

"Interesting. I oughta hand this to those Al Bhed scientists. They'll know what to do with it."

Pushing the button again and retracting the blades, he stowed it in his pocket and resumed his search. His walkie-talkie crackled for a few seconds with static, then Auron's voice came on the line.

'This is aimless wandering is pointless. Everyone, meet at the epicentre of the explosion. Then we'll decide what to do next."

* * *

Rikku stared in awe at the huge crater located at the epicentre of the explosion. "This kind of crater would've taken truckloads of explosives, maybe even a nuclear bomb! How could that... thing have possibly created this?"

Yuna didn't care whether the crater was made by truckloads of explosives, or a nuclear bomb. All she cared about was Tidus, and finding him.

"Okay, everyone. Pick a direction, and search in that direction. If our search pattern is thourough enough, we should find him." Auron said. Rikku realized that Auron had left out the words 'or his body'.

Orienting themselves all in different directions, they departed from the crater.

* * *

"I FOUND HIM!" Those three words were music to Yuna's ears. In an instant, the walkie-talkie was next to her ear like a cellphone, and she was asking where.

Rikku had marked her position with a flare, so as to let the party know where she was. Everyone immediately converged on her position, intent on finding out how Tidus was.

What none of them expected to find was the charred and blackened body that appeared to be a corpse lying at Rikku's feet. The only sure way of knowing it was Tidus' was the blonde hair that grew at the top of mass of black.

"Sorry, Yunie. Looks like he's... dead." Those six words crushed Yuna's heart, burnt it, and fed her its ashes. She burst into tears and fell to her knees.

Nevertheless, Lulu still wanted to be absolutely sure of it. Putting her hand on his neck, she searched for a pulse.

"No. He's still alive."

* * *

Well, sorry for the long delay, but I've been suffering from a brief spell of Mapleholism, the state of being a Maple Story Mapleholic. Also, don't expect another chapter coming soon after this, because we've got common tests and exams coming up. Once again, we apologize for the delay.


	19. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Ok...since this is the last chapter, I'll do it properly. I do not own Final Fantasy X or Predator. I hereby disclaim the ownership of everything we have ripped off, whether blatently or subtely.

A/N: Well, this is the end, I'm afraid. I'd like to thank all who have read this fic. Thank you for your support. Oh well. Everything that has a begining, after all, has an end.

* * *

Chapter 19: Epilogue

Yuna sat alone in her personal cabin on the S.S. Liki. It would bring her journey-worn body back to home sweet Besaid. The mere thought that Spira was going to be a more peaceful place with the eternal defeat of Sin brought a weak smile to her face, still flawless on the outside, yet haggard and scarred from countless battles, suffering and heartbreaks.

Yes, the children of Spira will finally be able to sleep without worry. The guards of Luca will finally be able to relax their constant vigilance. The Al-Bhed will finally be free of oppression. The dead Crusaders will finally be able to rest in peace. But at what cost?

She collapsed into the great leathery-red easy chair in the corner of the cabin, and let out a huge sigh. A small tear trickled down her cheek, but she brushed it away. Her job was not yet done. Although she had led Spira out of the shadow of death, Sin had taken its toll. Hundreds of people still lamented losses of loved ones. And scores more were out in the cold, confused, now that their once great pillar of support, the Imperium of Yevon, had collapsed. She now had to fill that void. She had to be strong.

A seagull flew by her window, its white plumage spotless, as though it had been unaffected by the dominion of Sin. It gazed at her and gave a formal salute, before responding to its companions' calls and soaring off into the horizon.

Yuna closed her eyes, and reflected on the speech she had given in Luca:

"Friends, Spiranians, countrymen! Lend me your ears!" she started. At once everyone in the stadium focused on her.

"Today, we have we have won a great victory. Sin is dead. Whatever warped control it once had over our lives is broken!

She paused for a while to let the thunderous applause die down before continuing

"However, we cannot rest. Everyone has lost something in this war. Friends, family, homes, dreams, loved ones…

The last phrase brought tears to her eyes, but she continued.

"Yet, I believe that we can forge a new future. We have survived ten thousand years of Sin, and we are still here! We can survive anything, as long as we are willed to do so. We can build new homes, new dreams, new lives!

The applause and cheering was thunderous.

"Still, if Spira is to crawl out of the ashes and rebuild itself, we must do something. Something extraordinary. Our Al-Bhed brethren have suffered years of oppression for crimes they did not commit. I have a dream, that one day, the children of both Yevonites and Al-Bhed can sit together in the table of fellowship without discrimination.

Then, all eyes turned to a particular block of the stadium where the Al-Bhed were seated. The stadium was engulfed in a sorrowful silence. They, some Yevonites seated nearby walked over and shook hands with the Al-Bhed seated at the aisles.

This was greeted by deafening cheering from both Yevonites and Al-Bhed.

After the commotion died down, Yuna finished the last line of her speech, "Also, many have given their lives in the fight against Sin. They died so that we could be free…

She gazed blankly straight ahead of her, remembering all who had died: Braska, Jecht, Auron, Kelk, Biran, Yenke,Luzzu, Valefor, Ifrit, Ixion, Shiva, Bahamut, Anima, Yojimbo, Cindy, Mindy, Sandy…Tidus.

"Never forget them."

It was hard not to forget them. They stood by her like no one else. They encouraged her and pushed her on. They changed her life.

She then turned her head and gazed at the blade Bahamut had presented to her before he departed for the Farplane. It was sleek, decorated richly with colour schemes of different metals as well as eight gemstones, each representing an Aeon. Within the hilt contained a cross.

She then broke down when she thought about the last name. His warm smile and his golden-blonde hair. How much he'd done for her and how he was willing to die for her. How he defended her from fiend and man alike. Especially the great beast which nearly took his life. Yet, for all he did, she didn't even have a sphere of him.

Then, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Wakka popped his head in and stared at her.

"I don't know how exactly to say this, but…the kid, he gave me something for you. He wanted me to give it to you when he was fighting that rabid fiend in the calm lands, but I was watching the fight and I kinda forgot."

Wakka then handed over a sphere.

With trembling fingers, Yuna played it as Wakka left the room.

The sphere showed his face, and played his voice. Although it was only a few days, it seemed like an eternity to Yuna since she last heard his voice.

"Yuna. This may sound a little weird, but I think that thing that has been chasing us since Luca wants me. He'll stop at nothing to get me and that'll include harming you. This fight, its gonna be our last. Either one of us will win, but the loser will get killed. Yuna, if I can't defeat this one than I'm done for, but more may come. I think they're from outer space, but the old dude Maechen says they might come from the Farplane. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is…I'm sorry for all the pain I've put you through. I'll do my best in this fight, but in case I get killed, you should be careful. Watch your back."

_What could he possibly mean? _pondered Yuna as she gazed out of the window. Little did she know she was staring straight at the answer.

* * *

Tichinde hung upside-down from the top window pane. He was watching the sphere as intently at Yuna. The last phrase struck a chord. 

_Watch your back huh? That'll be hard on my watch. _

She was going to pay for killing his brother.

**The End…or the Beginning? **

**

* * *

**

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the creators of these games/movies/etc for creating them for us to spoof

Final Fantasy X

Alien vs. Predator

Grand Theft Auto

Half Life 2

Halo 2

Devil May Cry 3

Matrix series

Lord of the Rings

Starcraft

Warcraft III

Star Wars

Battlefield 1941

D-Day: 1944

Command and Conquer

He-man and the Masters of the Universe

Gundam SEED Destiny

Garfield the Cat

"Madness" Flash Series

And many more I missed out…

**

* * *

**

Teaser Trailer

A little something to keep you tuned in. Enjoy.

_**The end of one story is the beginning of another. –Sensei Hisoka, Magic the Gathering**_

Maechen turned his wrinkled head to face Yuna, Rikku and Paine. His old eyes were filled with sadness. Whatever his message was, it wasn't good.

_I can see the end nearing._

Yuna stood at the edge of one of the bizarre metallic platforms that littered the Farplane. Every step she took brought her one step closer to her destiny.

_I can see the darkness spreading._

Bikanel nights were always dark, but Nhadala noticed something in the distance. A great flood of dark thunder clouds approached, blocking out all the little light from the moon, and casting an eerie shadow on the dunes.

_I see death._

Gippal scanned the battlefield. Bodies were heaped everywhere. Some were missing limbs; others had great holes on them. Some were just a pile of random body parts. The sand was stained red, as was the approaching tide.

_And you are all that stands in its way._

_**This summer, evil shall rise.**_

Before Yuna stood the great beast which she recognized from the past. It the same beast that nearly killed Tidus. It threw its head back and gave a roar, then, it charged.

_**Man shall fall.**_

The Predator grabbed Paine and lifted her up by the neck, before hurling her down the seemingly bottomless cliff.

"Paine!" Yuna cried, and dashed to her rescue, but the beast was instantly in front of her.

_**And the genesis cometh.**_

A sandy-blonde haired young man stood atop the great mechanical contraption. His cackling laughter cut to the bone and his piercing blue eyes bore holes through sockets.

He stopped his maniacal laughter and surveyed the surrounding, before declaring aloud, "Come! Let us purge this unclean world!"

_**We aren't ready**_

From the crater emerged a wave of creatures. They were jet black, but had silvery touched in certain areas. Saliva drooled endlessly out of their maws and their barbed, hooked claws looked menacing.

The endless wave advanced rapidly up the beach until the vanguard crashed down onto the first rank of the Al-Bhed formation.

_**She is**_

With a flick of her fingers, Yuna cocked her weapons, causing the hammers of both guns to slam fully home. She then aimed them in a ready position in front of her.

"Let's rock."

_**From the producers of the screwed-up Fanfic**_

**_Tidus vs. Predator_**

Yuna ran a few steps up the wall before kick-jumping off it. With a back flip, she blasted her handguns into the Predator that was below her, before drawing her sword and slicing at his armor as she descended.

Parrying a blow from another his wristblades, she violently kicked him away before jumping clear of a plasmacaster blast.

_**Comes the equally screwed up sequel**_

_**Yuna vs. Predator**_

Yuna: Will any of this actually be in the fanfic?

Tichinde: No. It'll all be lost in post-production.

* * *

A/N: Ok...now doesn't this just scream of sequel? Heh...a warning though, I may not get down to writing it if I can't develop the plot enough. Once again, thank you for your support and we'll see you in another fic!

Master offline.

Chiefout.


End file.
